Governors launch bid to take over tea firms

What you need to know:

  • Nandi Governor Stephen Sang and his Kericho colleague Paul Chepkwony have called for the establishment of a public company to manage multinational tea companies whose leases have expired.

  • They said evicted from their ancestral land and subjected to torture by the British colonialists in the process of establishing the multinational tea companies.

Governors from tea-growing counties in Rift Valley want to take over multinational tea companies whose leases have expired.

Nandi, Bomet and Kericho governors are demanding compensation from the British government for forcible eviction of local communities during the colonial era to pave way for the establishment of the multinational tea companies.

Land leases for most of the companies have expired and the county governments want the firms handed over to them.

COLONIALISTS

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang and his Kericho colleague Paul Chepkwony on Wednesday called for the establishment of a public company to manage multinational tea companies whose leases have expired for the benefit of local communities. “It is unfortunate that the displaced families continue to live in deplorable conditions after they were evicted from their ancestral land and subjected to torture by the British colonialists in the process of establishing the multinational tea companies,” said Mr Sang.

COMPENSATION

Governor Sang held talks with British Deputy High Commissioner Susie Kitchen over the expired land leases. This follows similar discussions with Prof Chepkwony.

Governor Sang added that the county assembly has launched the process of seeking compensation for the eviction of the Nandi community and torture, including the killing of their leader Koitalel Samoei. The county has sought the services of internationally-renowned lawyers, including Karim Khan who represented Deputy President William Ruto during the ICC case, and 10 others.

According to Mr Sang, the county will not accept a blanket apology from the British government for atrocities committed against its people.

EVICTION

Prof Chepkwony has filed a suit against the British government for the atrocities committed against the Kipsigis community including eviction to establish the tea companies.

But according to Ms Kitchen the British government is committed to solving the dispute without straining the relationship between the two countries. “We urge the tea companies to support the local communities through their CSR and as a government, we will continue offering capacity building to women, youth and people with disabilities,” said Ms Kitchen.