Tea farmers from Nyamira County have incurred immense loses following large quantities of the product despite the limited number of factories for the last four days.
The situation, which is threatening the business, has notably affected farmers selling tea leaves to private companies commonly known as ‘free markets’.
According to Gladys Onsomu, a tea merchant from Mosobeti, the problem resulted from the increasing number of brokers trying to frustrate small scale farmers.
“The three factories (Kipkebe, Kerito and Kabianga) cannot claim they have no capacity to process large quantities of tea,” said Onsomu.
She added, “We have seen these factories handling large quantities of tea during rainy season and that is why I believe some people who want their businesses to thrive have a hand in this stalemate.”
She accuses management of the aforementioned factories of bias and calls for small scale farmers to quit the business and join KTDA.
“There is a game that is being played here and top managers are aware. We will quit and join Kenya Tea Development Authority if they cannot solve this. It is impossible for us to get loses several days in a row,” she said.
However, yesterday in his office, Kipkebe Tea factory Managing Director Mr. Victor Kibiwoot admitted the problem but blamed it on large quantities of tea that is received in this period.
“We have been receiving an increasing quantity of tea, maybe due to increasing number of customers in the region but not as some are alleging,” he said.