This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
Delmonte Employees' Jobs at Risk After Murang'a County Refuses to Renew Land Leases ¶
On September 21, 2019, thousands of jobs at Delmonte Kenya Limited were put at risk following a High Court ruling over a lease dispute between the firm and Murang'a county government.
Delmonte had applied for the renewal of their land lease by Murang'a county government but the county administrators declined to renew the leases. The company then moved to court, but the High Court ruled that the matter was not within their jurisdiction.
The court cited lack of jurisdiction to determine the matter and stated that the dispute should have been filed and heard before the Environment and Lands Court.
Delmonte management and employees protested the decision, fearing the loss of their jobs. The company's over 6,500 employees, represented by their unions, expressed fear that the county government's failure to issue consent letters for renewal of the leases could severely affect their operations.
The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU) and the Kenya Union of Commercial Food and Allied Workers (KUCFAW) represented the workers. They stated that over 6,500 jobs were at stake and that soon, the workers may be forced into redundancy and loss of their jobs if the land lease is not renewed.
According to KPAWU official Jacob Mulema, failure to renew land leases that lie within Murang'a County would spell doom to Thika, Kabati, and Kenol towns, which benefit from the Sh 2.7 billion paid to Delmonte workers in salaries annually.
Additionally, over 28,000 employees of companies that supply various services and products to the company will also be affected as a result of the non-renewal of the land leases.
Delmonte argued that on October 1, 2012, it made the requisite applications for extension of the terms of various leases to the relevant local authority in the counties of Murang'a and Kiambu where the respective parcels of land are situated.
However, Murang'a county is demanding 1,500 acres of Delmonte land along Thika-Kenol Highway for 'public use' as a pre-condition for issuing the letter of no objection sought by the company.
