A meeting organised by Nyansiongo tea factory management on Thursday morning to finalise on the list of delegates to visit Mt Kenya region for one week as part of bench marking exercise ended prematurely with a section of farmers opposing the exercise.
Trouble started when representatives from Bogetutu and Bosamaro region accused the management of organising such exercises annually without much progress for over a decade now.
Bogetutu representative Mr Peterson Ombwori led more than 30 delegates to protest the exercise that is set to cost farmers over Sh8 million within a period of one week.
“We have been sending delegates to Mt Kenya region for over 10 years now but we normally get little as an outcome. Our problems cannot be solved through bench marking exercises that have no impact on our people. We can no longer allow such exercises to be conducted here,” he said.
According to them, the management had failed to compete effectively with factories from Mt Kenya region in the international markets due to engagement of tea brokers to sell their products in foreign markets.
“Bench marking has nothing new to offer to us. Our product is selling dismally because the same management uses so many brokers to sell our produce. That is why people from Mt Kenya could get bonuses of up to Sh60 per kilogram in 2015, with the highest paying factory (Nyansiongo) paying only Sh19 per kilogram,” he added.
Company’s Chairman of the Board Mr Christopher Nyakora asked for more time to consult over the issue before giving their final stand.
“Yes, we had some disagreements but we will sit down as management to give our final decision. Otherwise the bench marking exercise was introduced following demands from the same farmers,” he said.