County government of Nyamira and Kisii has been urged to help tea farmers get better payment from Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) as one way of boosting the agriculture sector.
According to tea farmers from both counties, the county government has not done enough in helping the farmers get better pay by the KTDA although they have sent their grievances to both counties.
Led by the Kenya Union of Small-scale Tea Owners (KUSSTO) chairman Omao Okang'i.
He said that they have struggled all along to reach the county governor to have discussions on the way forward but unfortunately, their bid has never bored fruits.
“As the union we have been looking for appointments to meet the county governors of our two counties but unfortunately, we have never met them to discuss on how the tea farmers can get a better payment from KTDA," said Okang'i.
In addition, they accused the Nyamira governor John Nyagarama who was once a KTDA Director but has sidelined them.
“In Nyamira we have many tea factories and the current governor used to be a director at KTDA, whom we think understands the sector better than any other person," said Richard Nyatiro, secretary to KUSSTO.
"But unfortunately, he is the one who does not want to meet us, we are wondering who can help us if the governor is not ready," said Nyatiro.