The CS who did not divulge how the threats were conveyed to him or whether he had reported the matter to police vows that he will not to be cowed by the threats to his life.
“I will stop at nothing to ensure sanity is brought back to this sector. I will not be cowed by these threats,” he said from Tea Planters Hotel in Nandi Hills.
Koskei told farmers that the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) and the tea auction in Mombasa are the root cause of problems in the sector and revealed that an exclusive 12-member committee in charge of operations at the Coast-based tea auction manipulates operations at the auction at their own discretion; including the pricing of the commodity.
“The membership of the committee is so exclusive that no new members are admitted. The committee admits and dismisses brokers at their discretion, completely monopolising operations of the auction where tea from individual farmers and multinational companies is sold to international buyers,” he charged.
Koskei further alleged that rampant mismanagement and corruption at KTDA had brought the sector to its knees.
“KTDA has a 65 per cent monopoly over the tea industry. Any mismanagement at the agency translates directly to problems in the sector,” he said.
But a Kericho farmer who did not wish to be named dismissed Koskei’s claims as politics, saying it had become fashionable for leaders to attack KTDA.
“Don’t be fooled. It is all politics. None of the politicians is proposing a practical way to take the tea industry to a new level of growth. All they are doing is calling for the disbandment of KTDA to appeal to the electorate. It is all about votes, nothing about the welfare of farmers,” he said.
In a statement, KTDA said that whereas the sector is facing challenges, its record in safeguarding the tea industry’s fortunes over the last 50 years, including the period when most industries in the agricultural sector collapsed, is well documented.
The company said that dealing with low prices, which are determined by demand and supply forces, and challenges like sub-division of land, and the high cost of energy and labour will require concerted efforts to address.
“The future of the tea industry will only be safeguarded when all stakeholders play their rightful roles in the value chain. Singling out an entire industry and its players for wholesome blame will not solve the problem,” read the statement.