Workers at the government owned Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation (NTZDC) are appealing for intervention after going 11 consecutive months without receiving their salaries, despite continuing to report to work and serve the corporation, leaving employees and their families struggling to survive while waiting for money they say they have already earned.

The complaint, submitted anonymously for the protection of the affected workers, says that employees have gone almost an entire year without receiving their monthly wages. One of the affected workers is said to earn approximately KSh8,110 per month, meaning that over 11 months, the employee would be owed about KSh89,210 if no salary at all had been paid during that period.

For workers earning around that amount, 11 months without a salary is not a minor delay. It means nearly a year of rent, food, school fees, transport, medical expenses and other household needs having to be met without the income that workers depend on every month.

The complaint states:

“I am posting this anonymously on behalf of affected employees of Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation. Workers have gone for 11 consecutive months without receiving their salaries, despite continuing to work and serve the organization.”

The workers say they have continued performing their duties despite the non payment, leaving them asking how an institution owned by the Government of Kenya can allow employees to remain without wages for such an extended period.

Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation is a government owned enterprise mandated to conserve and protect gazetted forests and other fragile ecosystems through the development and management of agro ecological buffer zones. The corporation combines forest conservation with tea production, forestry and other economic activities, and currently operates across 22 buffer zones covering nine critical water tower forest blocks.

This means the people at the centre of the complaint are not working for a small private employer operating outside government structures. They are employees of a state owned corporation whose work contributes to a government conservation and agricultural programme.

The corporation's current leadership falls under Dr. David Chepkwony as Chief Executive Officer, with Mr. Patrice Chumba serving as Board Chairman. The board and executive management are responsible for the strategic leadership, governance and stewardship of the corporation.

The salary crisis therefore places a direct question before the current management and board: how have employees worked for 11 months without receiving their wages, and what has the leadership done to resolve the situation?

The complaint says the financial pressure has spread into workers' homes, with employees struggling to meet basic responsibilities while their salary arrears continue to accumulate.

I am posting this anonymously on behalf of affected employees of Nyayo Tea Zones Development Corporation.

Workers have gone for 11 consecutive months without receiving their salaries, despite continuing to work and serve the organization.

With a monthly salary of approximately KSh 8,110, an affected employee would be owed about KSh 89,210 for the 11 months.

This situation has caused serious financial hardship to employees and their families. People have bills to pay, children to support, food to provide, and other basic responsibilities, yet they have gone almost a full year without their wages.

We are appealing to the Ministry of Labour, relevant government authorities, elected leaders, human rights organizations, journalists, and the general public to look into this matter and help ensure that the affected workers receive their outstanding salaries.

Workers deserve to be paid for the work they have already done.

We request that this matter be investigated urgently and that a solution be found for the affected employees.

🙏 Please share widely so that this issue can reach the relevant authorities.

The workers are now calling on the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, relevant government authorities, elected leaders, human rights organisations and the public to take interest in the matter and establish why the alleged arrears have been allowed to continue.

The complaint is particularly significant because NTZDC has previously faced scrutiny over unpaid worker dues. In July 2025, Tetu MP Geoffrey Wandeto demanded government action over long standing unpaid salaries, terminal dues and other benefits owed to former employees of the defunct Nyayo Tea Zones in Tetu. Parliament records show that the issue was raised formally in the National Assembly.

The issue of unpaid Nyayo Tea Zones workers also has a much older history. Parliamentary records show that a committee previously investigated complaints involving hundreds of former workers who had not received salaries, terminal dues and other benefits, with a recommendation that the affected former employees be paid.

That history makes the latest complaint harder to ignore because it suggests that questions surrounding workers' payments at the corporation are not entirely new.

An Auditor General's report on NTZDC for the year ended June 2023 also raised concerns regarding the corporation's payroll, including cases where staff earned less than one third of their basic salary after deductions in several months reviewed by the auditor. The report stated that management was in breach of the applicable requirement.