This archive report was first published on 24 August 2021.
On June 29, 2021, Chief Justice Martha Koome appointed Justice Hedwig Ong'udi to a three-judge bench to determine a dispute between the State and the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) over reforms in the tea sector.
The bench, which includes Justice Anthony Mrima as the presiding judge and Justice Jesse Nyagah, was reconstituted after Justice Weldon Korir disqualified himself from hearing the case last month.
KTDA lawyer James Ochieng had requested the court to fix a mention date for the advocates to sort out which application would be dealt with first before the case settled down for hearing.
However, Justice Mrima declined the request, citing the absence of the other two judges in the bench.
There are two pending applications in the dispute, with two parallel sets of advocates claiming to have been appointed by the tea agency.
On one side are the law firms of Guandaru Thuita & Company Advocates, Munyao Muthama and Kashindi Advocates, and Kale Maina and Bundotich Advocates, instructed by the newly-elected KTDA board of directors to represent the tea agency.
