President Uhuru Kenyatta has issued orders to the Ministry of Agriculture over tea. In his nationally televised address to the nation, the head of state has directed the Mwangi Kiunjuri-led ministry to make sure that the Tea Regulations 2019, approved last year to guide development and tea promotion, is fully implemented.
He urged the ministry to incorporate mechanisms that will see those who have been registered as tea growers are not allowed to sell it.
"I direct the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that the tea Regulations of 2019 incorporates appropriate mechanisms to ensure no one who is not a registered tea grower is allowed to sell it, " the president said.
The address is the strongest yet intervention by the president in the problems plaguing the tea industry.
Farmers growing the crop have long complained of exploitation that has seen the tea that they grow to fetch low prices, and have called for the removal of the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) managers.
A number of the farmers had threatened to do away with tea growing and focus on other cash crops.
The president said that the focus of his administration would be to ensure that the tea that Kenya exports undergoes value addition so that the farmers can benefit more.