TEA FARMERS ARE VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO THE PROPOSED TAKE OVER OF KETEPA BY THE KTDA

By Kipsiele Arap Sugurut
Luocome, Kericho

Trouble is reportedly brewing up between the multinational and individual tea companies following the recent proposal made by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) to facilitate the taking over of the Kericho based KETEPA.

The KETEPA is a private company, which is jointly owned by the multinational and individual tea factories across the country. It was built by the Brook Bond Tea Company in the late 1940s for the purpose of packaging made tea from the various tea factories located in Kericho, Nandi Hills and Maborokie in Limuru. And at the time, even private tea companies in Uganda were sending their made tea for packaging in Kericho.

The tea packaged at KETEPA is meant for the local market, while the bulks of tea produced by the multinational and individual tea companies are ferried overland to Mombasa for auctioning for the international markets.

The Brook Bond Tea company, according to a source in Kericho sold the former Central Packing for Kshs. 15 million in 1997. The Brook Bond Tea Company inadvertently did not evaluate the posh housing estates it had built for staff and workers in an adjacent land. The packing had an independent printing press, which was established by a member of the Brook family, Mr. Oliver Brooke in the year 1950, for the purpose of minimizing the costs of printing packaging materials (bags and papers).

The former Managing Director of the KTDA, the late Mr. Kibe Karanja had purchased one single share worth Kshs. 20/- only in the company. But the KTDA has since forcibly assumed the management of the KETEPA in total disregard to its shareholders. It has been nominating directors to KETEPA Board of Directors with total disregard to other stakeholders.

The major shareholders are the James Finlays Tea Company, (formerly African Highland Produce Company Ltd.), the Brook Bond/Uniliver, Sotik Tea, George Williamson Tea Company, Kipkebe Tea Company, Eastern Produce Company and several tea factories in Nandi Hills and Kericho.

And yesterday, a prominent tea farmer in Kericho, Mr. William Arap Kettienya (Chemosit) called upon the government to instruct the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) to investigate all the auditing system and audited reports of KETEPA from the year 2000.

The farmer wondered why the directors of the company are consuming close to Kshs. 6,000,000 annually and at the same time, spending close to Kshs. 100 million in foreign trips traveling costs.

Mr. Kettienya said that KTDA directors have been spending colossal amount of money to the tune of Kshs. 100 million in useless foreign trips under the guise of marketing. He was of the opinion that this could be done by the members of the executive staff and even the Tea Board of Kenya.

The current chairman of the KTDA, Mr. Mutai Imanyara has sat in one chair for the last twenty years, without some radical reforms and changes. The foreign trips for which the KTDA is footing the bills for the directors comforts, usually end up in Dubai, where the directors go for the purchase of luxurious goods such as cars, television sets and even tractors for sale to the farmers at the expense of the KTDA.

Mr. Kettienya threatened to move to court should the KTDA try to swallow KETEPA and make it its subsidiary. "This is a private company registered on its own and not a subsidiary. The alleged plan to swallow it, is aimed at buying the KETEPA by individuals after declaring its shares at the Stock Exchange" he said.

He appealed to the farmers in Kericho, Nandi Hills and in other regions to reject the proposal to swallow the KETEPA by the KTDA, arguing that the Agency has no managerial capacity to steer up KETEPA to a profitable outfit. It should be left alone as a private company entity and not a subsidiary of the KTDA.

Concerted effort to reach the KTDA Managing Director for comment were not successful. But Kettienya and his group later held a successful public rally at Sosiot in Belgut to sensitize the small scale tea growers to be aware of their rights to ownership of KETEPA.

There was a total silence on the part of the multi-national tea companies who own the majority shares in KETEPA.