A judge has temporarily stopped the election of tea directors which was ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Uhuru ordered the election through an executive order on March 12.
But on Wednesday, judge Anthony Mrima stopped the election saying another order issued by a court in Mombasa is still in force.
“I have taken into account the fact that there are lawful orders of the court obtained by the Honorable Attorney-General staying elections in the tea sector in the former Mombasa Petition 87 of 2020. The orders, as said, are still in force, and in fact, the Attorney General has taken out contempt of court proceedings against some parties,” he said.
Also, the judge noted that some of the issues in the Executive Order are matters before the court which are not yet been determined.
Justice Mrima’s order put on hold the elections of the 54 tea factories.
Kenya Tea Development Agency Holdings only last week filed a case saying the head of state has no powers at all to order for the polls of tea factories.
KTDA Holdings ltd had said the decision of the head of state was made without affording the company a hearing.
According to the agency the national government has absolutely no power in law and fact to sanction and preside over the elections of directors of KTDA, its subsidiaries and shareholders.
In the order, the head of state had said TBK will cause the development of tea sub-sector (Corporate Governance) regulations or guidelines on directorships.
The guidelines shall set term limits for the chairperson and directors of entities involved in the tea value chain.
He directed also the immediate remedial measures to be taken to ensure that each of the subsidiaries of KTDA has separate governance structures.
The case will now come up for hearing on April 20 and the Attorney-General is expected to file a response in two weeks.