Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked politicians to stop interfering with key sectors like tea, as that could hamper higher income for thousands of farmers.
The DP said unnecessary politics had seen some leaders drag politics into the sale of tea at the Mombasa Auction, resulting in a pileup of tea stocks from Nandi, Bomet, Kericho, Nyamira, and Kakamega counties at warehouses in Mombasa.
Gachagua said it's wrong to politicise everything at a time when Kenyans are waiting for the government to provide solutions to the current economic hardships.
“Stop politicking and let us work for Kenyans. We don’t need to politick every day, yet elections are still far away. Let us allow the President, the Deputy President, and those given responsibilities to work,” the DP said.
He was speaking on Wednesday in Nandi county during a burial ceremony.
Gachagua said through his intervention, the government managed to unlock the impasse at the Mombasa tea auction that had seen the export of tea stalled.
“I was there last week, and we solved the issue on reserve price and it has been lifted. Tea from the region is now being sold at the auction,” the DP said.
He said it was wrong for some leaders to try to destabilise the tea sector through petty politics at a time when the government, under the leadership of President William Ruto, was focused on improving the lives of Kenyans through key interventions aimed at bettering the economy.
The DP asked leaders not to politicise the sale of tea, saying it would destabilise the sector on which thousands of farmers are dependent.
He advised farmers to consider the production of orthodox tea, which is more beneficial, saying tea hawking, a prevalent practice in the region, was compromising the quality of Kenya’s tea exports.
“The hawkers are stealing tea and taking it to factories which are contaminating the quality of the tea processed,” he said
“We had a challenge in exporting tea from this region because there was high production because of favourable weather conditions and subsidised fertiliser. But we also had a problem of quality that led to a high reserve price being put on the tea from this area,” he said.
During the burial service, Gachagua delivered President Ruto’s condolences to the family of businessman David Lang’at - chairman of DL Group of companies, as they laid his mother Mama Hellena Jepkosgei Bett, to rest at her home in Ollessos, Nandi county
"I give an assurance that the President is doing everything possible as we help him, to mobilise resources despite the economic challenges, to develop the country. Let’s stop chest-thumping, bragging and unnecessary engagements but humble ourselves and serve the people," he said.
