By Our Reporter
Worth Noting:
- Those who took part in the illegal takeover were some of former directors with the help of their supporting cartels who have for years been milking the farmers dry.
- After failing to take over the management of KTDA, the ousted KTDA cartels have in the last few days launched a dirty smear campaign targeting the Board and Management.
- Using prominent bloggers for hire who have a long history of extortion, the cartels have been spreading false and malicious information regarding the operations of KTDA in their dirty hate campaign after their attempts to fleece farmers off their hard-earned cash were thwarted.
The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) that serves more than 650,000 small scale tea farmers across the country has undergone serious metamorphism in the last few months, an issue that has seen affiliated farmers smile all the way to the bank.
The changes, brought by new board members through elections across the country have not been smooth as stiff opposition and almost forceful takeover has been witnessed.
Numerous court petitions have been filed against the government and the current leadership with some having been dispensed while others are still pending determination.
Last year, some of the ousted directors invaded the KTDA headquarters and in vain tried to take back control.
However, their invasion lasted just a few minutes as they were hounded out after it emerged that their move had no basis in law.
Those who took part in the illegal takeover were some of former directors with the help of their supporting cartels who have for years been milking the farmers dry.
After failing to take over the management of KTDA, the ousted KTDA cartels have in the last few days launched a dirty smear campaign targeting the Board and Management.
Using prominent bloggers for hire who have a long history of extortion, the cartels have been spreading false and malicious information regarding the operations of KTDA in their dirty hate campaign after their attempts to fleece farmers off their hard-earned cash were thwarted.
The cartels, shocked that KTDA was now delivering exemplary results, are now sponsoring the said bloggers to malign the new board and the employees, including the senior staff.
The support the new board has received from farmers and stakeholders has also angered them.
The former leadership alongside their cartel network have been making wild allegations on the new board and senior staff in their bid to discredit them and incite farmers against them.
KTDA tea factories have also discovered that the former cartels bought land at exorbitant prices in dry and rocky places where not trees (for firewood) could grow.
In the recent past, some factories in areas such Nyeri, Embu and Meru have been forced to dipose off such pieces of land since their existence is not viable or of any benefit to the farmers.
After learning that they made grave mistakes and their efforts were for their selfish interests, they are now using bloggers to stage a smear campaign in a desperate bid to try to deflect the scandals from them.
This move made the new KTDA board management which is headed by David Ichoho with Wilson Muthaura being the Chief Executive Officer to issue a public statement denouncing their continued moves.
In a press statement issued by the agency’s Corporate Communications department yesterday, KTDA disclosed that their managed factories posted the highest aggregate revenue of KSh93.03 billion in the last financial year since it was established.
Further, the statement noted, farmers recorded an improved payment of KSh62.89 billion courtesy of the ongoing Tea reforms.
Urging the stakeholders to ignore falsehoods being peddled by those opposed to the current management, the Agency disclosed that they were seeking legal redress on the issues.
John Kamau