There was drama in different tea factories in Embu county when former directors stormed the factories and took leadership saying they were the bonafide directors.
The current board of directors were caught by surprise when they arrived at the factory premises and found new faces seated in the offices.
Mwenje Njeru, who is the chairman of Mungania tea factory, said that he found the former directors seated in the factory boardroom and upon inquiry from them about what they were doing in the boardroom they responded that they were valid directors.
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He said after talking to them they walked out of the boardroom and went away.
"We are the bonafide directors of Mungania tea factory, the former directors have no legal document to show that they should be in the factory," Mwenje said.
Mwenje noted that they were elected under the new reforms put in place by the government to better the welfare of farmers and ensure they benefit from their farming.
“We are law-abiding people and we pray that such a thing will never be experienced in this company where people storm into our offices without court orders or anything legal to show why they are in our offices and end up claiming that they are the directors of this company,” Mwenje stated.
He also affirmed that since they took leadership under the new tea reforms there has been a substantive improvement in terms of performance, noting that the former directors want to paralyze the reforms to meet their personal gains.
In Rukuriri tea factory, things were not different as the current directors were held hostage outside the offices after former directors entered the factory premises and convened in the boardroom for a meeting.
The current directors led by the factory chairman Joseph Rwanjau reported the matter at Runyenjes police station.
The former directors were later ejected from the offices by police.
Rwanjau condemned the former directors for storming into their offices, calling on the President William Ruto to intervene and ensure the will of the farmers is respected.
"The change that we are witnessing in the tea sector now is imminent, the former directors failed to achieve this and now they are coming to say they are bonafide directors. They failed to bring this change, tea sector is very sensitive a little disturbance will affect the farmers," he said.
He assured farmers that the factory leadership was intact and that they should not panic.
“I want to assure our farmers that the Directors they elected in the 2021 election are still the company’s directors. The other people who are coming to be directors of the company only want to feast on the proceeds of the company as they had always done,” he noted.
Farmers who witnessed the drama urged the government not to allow a few individuals who have their hidden agenda to ruin the good progress in the tea sector.
"We elected the competent directors, those coming to say they are directors have made us suffer for long," Joseph Mwaniki, a farmer at Mungania tea factory, said.
Mwaniki said the tea sector is an economic pillar for many families in Embu county and such leadership wrangles are may destabilize the sector.
