Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has unleashed a stinging critique of President William Ruto’s administration, warning that Kenya’s tea sector is edging toward collapse due to what she calls entrenched mismanagement and crippling financial strain at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).

In an X post dated November 22, 2025, she wrote, “Unless something is urgently done, the Kenyan tea sector will soon collapse under President RUTO’s watch.”

Her remarks reopen the debate on farmer earnings, governance failures and the widening disconnect between national export figures and realities on the ground.

Claims of systemic looting narratives

Wamuchomba alleged that KTDA has operated on borrowed money for three consecutive years, with loans even used to pay out this year’s low bonuses.

“KTDA has been looted and has been running on borrowed money for the last three years; in fact, they even borrowed to pay farmers the low bonuses this year. Some factories have been notified by auctioneers for defaulting on outstanding loans,” she stated.

She questioned President Ruto’s assertion in his November 20 State of the Nation Address that tea export revenues rose from Ksh138 billion in 2022 to Ksh215 billion in 2024.

“If the tea export revenue figures reported by President Ruto in parliament are factual, why are factories not able to pay farmers? Parliament has failed Kenyan tea farmers, too,” she wrote.

The MP further criticised the proposed Tea Amendment Bill 2025, arguing that it would worsen the situation. “They are now making a bill to add a NEW levy to the same factories through the Tea Amendment bill 2025,” she added.

Fresh push for farmer mobilisation

Wamuchomba said she has faced attempts to silence her for speaking out. “When I said this, someone senior in the government suggested that I be arrested for inciting farmers… Arrest me if you may; truth will always prevail,” she wrote, questioning how lawmakers could push for a two-term presidency “for a president who has failed tea farmers for three years now.”

She also referenced earlier efforts to curtail her oversight work. “When I created a coffee and tea caucus in parliament to check the government, they made sure I’m not the chair to gag me, but now all the truth is out,” she said.

The MP announced she would convene a special meeting with the federation of tea farmers, factories and stakeholders to “call out this mess and petition the Government”, adding, “We have done it in coffee and will do this in the tea sector too. Nothing will stop the farmer from reclaiming the value of Kenyan tea. Woman for the job.”

Her renewed push follows her earlier criticism after the President’s address, where she highlighted cases of farmers, particularly in Kisii, receiving bonuses as low as Ksh6 per kilo, fuelling calls for transparency and urgent sector reforms.