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Brokers Invade Tea Regions
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 03:18
The brokers buy the crop cheaply. Farmers said they were being forced to sell to the brokers because of congestion at local factories and non-collection of tea leaf from buying centres by their respective factories.
Produce worth millions of shillings was left to rot at buying centres, they said.
Three MPs from Nyamira District yesterday cautioned tea growers not to sell their produce to the brokers.
Speaking in Kisii, Mr Mwancha Okioma (Kitutu Masaba), Mr Henry Obwocha (West Mugirango) and Mr Godfrey Masanya (North Mugirango), said the brokers were exploiting farmers.
The MPs said the congestion at Tombe, Kebirigo and Sang'anyi factories would be eased after the opening of newly constructed Gianchore Tea Factory in West Mugirango.
Mr Obwocha confirmed that the minister for Agriculture, Mr Kipruto arap Kirwa, had assured local leaders that the factory would be operational by next month.
"Last month I led members of the Gusii Parliamentary Group to a meeting with Mr Kirwa and he assured us that the factory will start crushing tea from next month," he told the Nation on the telephone.
The MPs blamed poor infrastructure in the district for the delay in collection of tea from buying centres.
"The roads are rendered impassable even after short rains. We want to ensure that tea factory managers use tea cess funds properly," said Mr Okioma.
Mr Okioma alleged that factory directors misappropriated funds by indicating that roads repaired under the El Nino project and those done by the councils had been mended from tea cess.
A farmer, Mr John Motari, said he preferred selling his produce to the brokers instead of spending sleepless nights at buying centres waiting for weighing clerks.
The brokers pay between Sh7 to Sh9 per kilogramme.
The farmers said the posts of factory directors should be abolished as the officials were involved in corruption.
But Mr Masanya, himself a director of Sang'anyi Tea Factory, defended the directors against the accusations.
He said the directors only handled policy matters of their respective factories and not operations.
