Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has asked KTDA to clear piled up stocks of tea in Mombasa warehouses before the end of the year.
Speaking when he visited Mengo and Miritini warehouses on Thursday evening, the Deputy President said the backlog will be sorted.
“Our reason for coming to these warehouses is on concerns of farmers about stocks of the 2023/2024 financial year. I am happy with the assurance given that the number of kilograms remaining will be cleared by the end of this year to the satisfaction of the farmer. I ask the management of Chai Trading and KTDA Holdings to ensure to clear these stocks so that we put our things in order as we are expecting more tea,” he said.
He said consultations he has held with stakeholders in the Tea Subsector will streamline governance and end impediments that among other issues, impede the sale of tea and eat into the earnings of the farmer.
“We agreed on what we need to do. We will be having further meetings in the coming days. We want to streamline and iron out a few challenges that are there,” he said.
At the same time, he called on KTDA to invest in construction of their own warehouses to cut down on the cost of operations for the farmer to gain more money.
This meeting was followed by another one earlier today, when he engaged KTDA’s new directors at Pride Inn Beach Resort during their induction. He asked them to fast track the ongoing Tea Subsector Reforms.
