After a long standoff between tea farmers and Nyansiongo Tea Factory management over the newly proposed factory, the management now wants farmers to end the strike, and engage in constructive dialogue.
Speaking on Thursday at Riamanoti Tea Buying Centre, Chairman Christopher Mokaya urged farmers to embrace dialogue to reach an amicable solution over the stalemate.
“We have had enough of the strike and we are losing millions of shillings. The management is ready for dialogue as it has been always. Am sure we will get a remedy to your questions,” said the officer.
He asked the wrangling factions of farmers’ representatives to call for immediate end of strike, since the management was ready to mediate the crisis.
“Going three weeks on strike over a very small matter is devastating. The reason why it has taken long is because your representatives are playing politics in the farming sector. Please tell them to desist from dividing you,” he added.
Mokaya hailed security forces from the area for providing incredible security to farmers, who continued plucking tea and selling it to the factory despite serious warning by dissatisfied representatives.
“We ought to remember that some of you have been going to work. This was possible since our police officers ensured they are not attacked by those against development. On behalf of the management, I salute those officers,” he said.
The ongoing strike is attributed to two factions of farmers’ representatives, who differed over the site, at which the proposed branch of Nyansiongo Factory should be constructed, with one of the faction asking for refund.