Pyrethrum farmers in Nakuru County have threatened to take legal action against Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei for excluding them in the current changes in the subsector.
The county’s Pyrethrum Growers Association (PGA) chairman Samuel Kihiu says the current changes and rebranding of the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya properties to Pyrethrum Regulatory Authority (PRA) is not according to the law.
“Pyrethrum Act Cap 340 subsection 2 clearly states that, if the board is wound up, all monies received on the sale or disposal of its property and assets shall, subject to the prior satisfaction of any liabilities of the board, be distributed to the growers,” Kihiu said.
He noted that during the whole transition period, the growers were put aside and kept in darkness since there has been no active management board since 2010.
“In 2013, growers went to court to stop the then CEO from selling the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya (PBK) properties under the instruction of CS Felix Koskei. We are not yet tired of going to court even at this time to stop the changing of PBK properties to PRA,” Kihiu added.
Kihiu was backed up by Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri, who said that regulation and processing should be separated and farmers should be left with the processing as the industry remains theirs.
“Farmers have suffered a lot and PRA should stop messing up with PBK properties that belong to growers,” Kimani said.
He added that PRA’s role is to oversee policies and licensing of future investors in a liberalised economy but their current behaviour is suspect and aimed at denying growers their right and properties.
“As we write this petition, growers’ assets such as PBK headquarters, factory, vehicles are labelled PRA which gives the impression that PRA owns these properties, which is illegal,” Kihiu stated.
The growers called upon the Ministry of Agriculture to convene an urgent meeting with them in order to end the stalemate before they seek the court’s intervention.