Tea farmers to get Sh3b mini-bonus next month
By Nicholas.Waitathu, March 9, 2022
Small-scale farmers affiliated to Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) will receive Sh3 billion mini-bonus in the first week of April the board has confirmed.
This year’s mini-bonus, the highest compared to other years would have been paid early this month but the company top management yesterday confirmed that the same failed owing to differing dates that had been set by boards of the respective factories.
David Ichoho, KTDA chairman said board of directors of various tea factories had passed resolutions in their earlier meetings to pay the mini-bonus either in the months of March and May.
“As the KTDA Holding board we had to reach out to all the factory boards in order to agree on the common date. Farmers should expect money in their accounts in their first week of April,” he said.
Availability of the cash to the farmers in the month of April,Ichoho observed will help farmers to pay school fees among other financial obligations. Ichoho spoke on the sidelines of launch of a report on tea industry price stabilisation framework at a Nairobi hotel.
Different factions
In the recent past a conflict emerged between different factions within the organisation as some declared new rates while politicians demanded that the rates should not be less than Sh10 per kilogramme.
Ichoho said factories in Embu County – Mungani, Rukiri and Kathangariri will pay the highest of Sh10 per kilogramme.