An influential Twitter blogger named “Kimuzi” has unearthed the ugly rot at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) where a new regime of rogue directors is causing unseen havoc that threatens to wreak the company.
In his latest “Mulika Ufisadi” thread, the blogger aired the plight of suffering workers and farmers who exposed the massive looting and thuggery accompanied by cold threats and endless intimidation.
So, onto my threads of Mulika Ufisadi. We can all become whistle-blowers in order to move forward. The first one I will tackle is KTDA and the factories it manages. The rot in KTDA is sick!
Mulika Wezi, Mulika Ufisadi!
A thread.
— Kimuzi (@Kimuzi_) October 31, 2022
The directors who took over during former Agriculture CS Peter Munya’s tenure are accused of awarding themselves hefty allowances while at the same time, reducing staff salaries with the excuse of labour cost reduction.
As per the shocking submissions, some of them reportedly pocket more than Sh300k per month, which has inspired them to borrow big loans against the allowances.
Former CS Peter Munya is labelled as a major beneficiary of the loot which he receives in exchange for protecting the unqualified populists who literally bowed down and kissed his ass for the jobs.
CS Munya allegedly backed their ascension to the positions despite a court order restraining their election.
“Do you mind doing a story about the massive looting and thuggery going on in KTDA-managed Tea Factories?
A new regime of directors took office a mid-last year and I tell you they’ll close down the companies.
Meetings are being organized left right and centre, with hefty allowances for each director.
The accumulated bills/creditors are past the ceiling.
Literally, zero operating funds for the last two weeks.
Employees are made to work overtime without any additional pay.
Threats and intimidation are the order of the day.
Is it noble?
First of all, They have reduced the salaries from Sh43,000 to Sh18,000 in what they say is labour cost reduction whereas each is pocketing more than 300k net of tax per month.
They are populists who ousted the previous board, and only one has attained the minimum academic threshold for a directorship position and took office while there was a court order restraining their election.
They were backed by non-other than Peter Munya.
The former CS of agriculture is the biggest beneficiary of the reforms in KTDA,” Kimuzi shared on Twitter.
Some KTDA board members are accused of running multiple subsidiary firms which they use to export their own tea to private go-downs in Dubai.
It is further alleged that recent cheques written to suppliers by the factories across the country have been bouncing because there is barely any money in KTDA’s bank accounts.
As things stand, most employees are unsure of the next payday.
The suffering also extends to casual workers who put in hours of extra shifts without overtime pay.
During high crop, they worked from 12pm to 5am with no overtime.
To make matters worse, they force every employee to break for one month to avoid absorbing more staff on a permanent basis.
Long-serving KTDA CEO, Mr. Samuel Lerionka Tiampati (mentioned in the above screenshots) applied for an early exit before the expiry of his contract and this was approved by the board in September 2021.
Prior to his exit, Mr. Tiampati was on compulsory leave and his position had been filled by Mr Wilson Muthaura in an acting capacity.
The former immediate KTDA CEO was among officials questioned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations last year over claims that they had misspent farmers money on lawyers.
The others include; John Omanga in charge of legal affairs, Brown Kanampiu (procurement), Samuel Rugut (finance) and Lincoln Munyao (audit).
The summons came after KTDA farmers requested for a probe on alleged misuse of funds through overpayment of lawyers.
His exit came amid controversy and a slew of court cases following the government’s move to implement tea sector reforms.
