A week after a local tea factory imposed restrictions on farmers who were allegedly trading with a rival private tea company, the sanctions have been lifted following an intensive meeting among all stakeholders.
On Thursday, a section of farmers who intended to register as tea growers at Nyansiongo factory were allegedly turned away, sparking a debate that saw a number of farmers protest the decision.
Nyansiongo tea factory chairperson Christopher Nyakora on Monday confirmed the lifting of sanctions and urged farmers to restrain from engaging in activities that are contrary to the rules and regulations of the factory.
“We held a meeting today and finally settled on lifting the sanctions. We need more members but it is important that farmers respect existing rules. We want the quality of our tea improved by having customers who are loyal,” Nyakora said.
According to him, the affected farmers had agreed to comply with the regulations failure to which their names will be expunged permanently from the factory’s register.
“I am glad that our clients agreed to respect the rules and regulations of our factory. However, I am confident that whoever who contravenes the loyalty regulations will face disciplinary action against him or her,” he added.
The representative of the farmers, Mr Isaac Monari, termed the move as ‘a relieve’ to farmers and welcomed the move to add fertilisers to farmers for improved yields.
“The main reason why our people were shifting loyalty is imposing a huge fee on fertilisers without subsidy. Now that they have agreed to subsidise the rates and we welcome the move,” he said.