IEBC, the Ministry of Interior and the Tea Board of Kenya on Friday held security meetings ahead of the upcoming elections for the directors of Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA).
The meetings took place in Nyeri and Kericho counties and brought together security officers from tea-growing counties.
The meetings underscored the significance of security and administrative coordination in elections for directors of 54 smallholder tea factories scheduled for June 28, 2024.
During the meeting in Nyeri, IEBC manager of electoral training Jacktone Nyonje provided an update on the level of preparedness for the elections.
He reiterated that the elections will be conducted in a free, fair and credible manner.
In addition, the Nyeri County election manager, Anastacia Mutua, underscored the importance of collaboration with security officers, highlighting the crucial role they played in the 2022 General Election.
Tea Board of Kenya chairman Jacob Kamau Kahiu said elections mark a significant milestone in the tea reforms transformation journey.
“We aim to instil good corporate governance, transparency and accountability within Kenya's smallholder tea sub-sector under the Tea Act 2020,” Kahiu said.
IEBC will supervise the voting process across the seven regions in the country.
It will provide all the requisite voting materials for use during the poll.
Over 600, 000 tea farmers from the KTDA-managed factories across the country will participate in the elections.
Voting will be through the secret ballot system based on “one farmer, one vote principle”.
The electoral body will be the returning officers for each of the factories.
It will also publish a list of qualified candidates including the voter register in all the tea-buying centres ahead of the exercise.
In conducting the poll, the electoral agency will be guided by a manual of elections released by TBK.
