Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Holdings board has elected Chege Kirundi (pictured) as its new national chairman.  He replaced Enos Njeru who has held the position since mid-2023 while director Eric Chepkwony retained his position as the National Vice Chairman. 

However, despite being replaced as the national chairman Njeru will remain a member of the board representing tea factories of Zone 6 that covers Embu County.

Kirundi is the board member for Zone Three in Murang’a County and has been active in spearheading the tea reforms in the country which saw the enactment of the 2020 Tea Act.

The changes come one week after the board publicly complained of interference in its operations by politicians and senior Ministry of Agriculture officials. 

The board accused the leaders and senior government officials of pushing for agendas in the agency which also has cost implications.

 Kirundi will be the second national chairman of the agency since the Kenya Kwanza government took over the country’s leadership. 

Njeru was elected the organisation’s chairman in mid-2023 replacing David Ichoho who had served in the position since 2021 after countrywide elections. 

Ichoho was replaced after a tea conference in Kericho in May 2023 but remained a board member representing tea factories of Zone 1 in Kiambu county.