Kebirigo tea factory management in Nyamira county has put in place stringent measures to curb falsification of green tea at the buying centers which has allegedly seen farmers incur a loss of Kshs. 20 million recently.
The factory chairman Peter Nduati said that the theft occurred during the weighing of the crop where clerks teamed up with unscrupulous farmers to earn from the falsified kilograms of green tea.
He said that the factory had ordered for a forensic audit when they discovered the falsehoods being perpetrated by some farmers and the clerks.
Speaking during the Annual General Meeting at the factory premises on Wednesday, he said that the audit revealed shocking results leading to the summary dismissal of 20 weighing clerks.
He said although the audit per farmer was tedious and expensive but that it was worth the efforts since the malpractice had been reduced significantly.
“Farmers involved in the illegal manipulation of the fake kilograms of the green tea had their accounts frozen and the extra payments cancelled and returned to the factory’s main account," he said.
He said that the management was now more attentive with regards to monitoring of the daily green tea leaves weighed.