Parliament’s Agriculture Committee Engages Stakeholders on Tea (Amendment) Bill, 2023

 

The National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock has engaged various stakeholders on the controversial Tea (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in a session held Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Parliament Buildings.

Chaired by the Committee’s Vice-Chairperson, Hon. Brighton Yegon (Konoin), the session sought public input on proposed changes to the Tea Act, including provisions on direct tea sales, payment of proceeds to farmers, auction regulations, and governance of tea factory boards.

First to appear before the Committee was the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), led by its national Chairperson Mr. Chege Kirundi, who strongly opposed several key provisions in the Bill.

KTDA challenged Section 22(1) of the proposed amendment, which seeks to limit board membership to five directors. According to Mr. Kirundi, the existing cap of nine directors under the current Act ensures broader representation, including gender balance and governance needs across tea factories.

“Tampering with this limit will lead to underrepresentation of tea farmers across factories. We currently elect six directors and leave three positions open for balanced representation,” said Kirundi.

KTDA also opposed Section 36(8), which gives the Cabinet Secretary, in consultation with county governments, the power to establish new tea auction centers in growing regions. The Agency maintained that centralizing auctions in Mombasa preserves Kenya’s competitive edge by maintaining consistent pricing and lowering operational costs for producers.

Hon. Yegon questioned this opposition, noting that tea from the West Rift region has struggled at the Mombasa auction, often selling below production cost.

“Why are you against alternative auction centers that could benefit farmers in underperforming regions?” he posed.

In defense, KTDA argued that decentralization would fragment the market, confuse pricing mechanisms, and negatively impact Kenya’s global tea brand.

The session also featured Hon. Sabina Chege (Nominated MP), who pressed KTDA on farmers’ long-standing complaints about the burden of maintaining nine directors.

“If tea farmers are crying over the weight of sustaining nine directors, why resist regulation on the number?” Chege asked.

Mr. Kirundi responded that flexibility was crucial for effective factory management, given varying shareholding and operational capacities across tea companies.

The Kenya Tea Growers’ Association (KTGA), represented by CEO Ms. Linda Oluoch, took issue with Clause 13, which exempts specialty and value-added teas from the tea levy—but only if packed in containers of not more than 10 kilograms.

Ms. Oluoch argued that the restriction unfairly excludes other premium Kenyan teas, including instant and specially manufactured varieties, from benefiting.

“We recommend deletion of the packaging limit to apply the exemption broadly to all value-added teas, thus promoting value addition and export competitiveness,” she said.

Other organizations present included the East Africa Tea Trade Association (EATTA), Kenya Tea Brokers Association (KTBA), Tea Board of Kenya (TBK), and KALRO–Tea Research Institute, all of whom made technical recommendations.

The Committee is expected to compile the views collected for consideration in the Bill’s final reading. If passed, the Tea (Amendment) Bill, 2023 could significantly reshape the governance, regulation, and marketing of Kenya’s tea sector—one of the country’s largest foreign exchange earners.

June 11, 2025