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Farmers want KTDA stopped from holding directors’ polls

Farmers picking tea. Three farmers have moved to court seeking to have KTDA compelled to stop the ongoing elections of factory directors. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  NDUNG’U GACHANE

What you need to know:

  • They are accusing the company secretary of, unilaterally and without authority, publishing an election procedure manual.
  • The petitioners claim in the petition that the KTDA directors have transformed themselves into an exclusive cartel.
  • The matter will be mentioned Thursday at the High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Milimani.

Woes facing the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) are far from over, after three farmers moved to court seeking the agency to be compelled to stop the ongoing elections of factory directors.

The farmers are claiming that the elections are carried out under strange rules.

The three farmers, Joseph Mwangi Mbote, Peterson Maina Gathua and Samson Mwangi Wairugu are accusing the company secretary of, unilaterally and without authority, publishing an election procedure manual for director nominees for KTDA-managed tea factories.

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CONFLICT OF INTEREST

In the petition that has been certified as urgent, the farmers claim the company secretary, as an employee of the KTDA board, is conflicted and biased in the conduct of elections and that he cannot be expected to render credible election results.

“The group secretary has amassed monstrous powers on the elections at both levels including publishing the election procedure manual, appointing the returning officers, presiding officers and deputy presiding officers for the elections, verifies the proxies to be used and has absolute discretion to reject the same, issues notices of nominations, appoints the members of the verification committee which scrutinise documents by candidates,” the petition reads.

'CARTEL'

The petitioners, who are also members of the Democratic Party of Kenya, claim in the petition that the KTDA directors and the office of the company secretary have transformed themselves into an exclusive cartel that determines the outcome of the elections of both factory directors and zonal head-office directors, making it extremely difficult to effect any changes in the composition of the boards at holding company level and factory level.

The tea farmers also accuse the agency of breaching the practices and conducting zonal elections in October, a move they claim shielded some directors from the risk of losing their positions.

They have added that the “irregular and premature zonal elections” led to the election of Erastus Gakuya (Zone 2), Peter Kanyago (Zone 4), Paul Ringera (Zone 7) and Mr Phillip Ngetich (Zone 8).

The petitioners state that the purported management of elections is not part of the agreement between KTDA and the tea factories.

The matter will be mentioned Thursday at the High Court’s Constitutional and Human Rights Division in Milimani.

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