This archive report was first published on 31 August 2021.
Kenya Tea Development Agency (Holdings) Ltd has kicked off a one-week corporate governance training for its estranged directors in the coast region, bringing together over 100 shareholders and delegates from the organization's factory directors.
The training, which is expected to be officially opened by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, aims to ensure the retention of the 54 factory directors countywide and train them on good corporate governance.
Speaking on the first day of the well-attended forum at Travelers Beach Hotel in Mombasa county, KTDA Holdings Chairman David Muni Ichoho promised the participants that they will work with them as a team, unlike their predecessors.
He urged the stakeholders to work together in the reforms initiated to move forward and bring change in the agency's management.
“The transition to changes being carried out with the new-look agency team is meant to empower farmers,” Ichoho pointed out.
The KTDA boss added that the training is to ensure the stakeholders embrace the new board's vision, which includes empowering farmers and putting more money into their pockets.
He highlighted that the board's new vision is to ensure farmers are empowered and to put more money into their pockets, adding that the introduction of minimum prices and the increase of monthly payment for farmers in regions 5, 6, and 7 are some of the most notable changes.
Ichoho said the board is ready to take the input of the 54 factories and what more could be done to empower the farmers and improve their welfare.
He announced that the agency has already witnessed the price of tea jumping from an average of USD 1.90 before the minimum price regime to the current average of approximately USD 2.5 per kilo of tea.
The KTDA boss confirmed that the agency has already imported 65,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer for farmers, which is being downloaded at the port of Mombasa along Berth Number 9.
He said the move to transport the consignment through the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will ensure faster and more efficient delivery to farmers ahead of the rains.
Ichoho said the agency's decision is in tandem with and in support of the government's infrastructure project, adding that everything is being kept in the sector.
“The new-look agency team has a long way to go with initiated changes since we took over as this is only the beginning of a new way of conducting business,” he pointed out.
