PS Ronoh to new KTDA directors: Transform the tea sector through visionary leadership

The newly elected KTDA tea factory directors have been urged urge to transform the tea industry in the country through visionary leadership.

Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Ronoh told the directors to immediately embark on the issues at hand which include declining tea quality and dead stock at the Mombasa Tea Auction.

Speaking when he officially opened an induction and corporate governance training for the directors from Region five in Nakuru, Ronoh also highlighted the need to enhance the value addition of the product at the factory level as well as revitalising the performance of the factories.

"It is the steps that you will take now as the new leaders that will make the difference going forward," he said.

About unsold tea at the Mombasa Auction, Ronoh observed that some unscrupulous directors were colluding with brokers to increase dead stock which they would later sell at throw-away prices to the chagrin of small-scale growers.

He said some tea factories in the region have recorded a worrying decline in earnings from tea, increasing stock of unsold tea and declining quality.

"While overproduction may have contributed to suppressing global tea prices, competitors like Rwanda have continued to enjoy good prices," he said.

The PS added that because tea was one of the most important value chains in the country's economy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has been tasked with the responsibility of implementing Beta programmes to ensure that tea realised its full potential in terms of increased returns.

"The government has been keenly monitoring the just concluded elections and will continue to monitor the performance of the tea factories," Ronoh said.