'Buy our tea or else': Kirinyaga farmers spend night at buying centre in protest

The farmers staged the protest after a collection clerk allegedly rejected green leaf belonging to one of their colleagues on Monday, citing poor quality without providing a satisfactory explanation.

In solidarity with the affected farmer, the growers resolved to withhold their own deliveries until the disputed tea is purchased by the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA).

The standoff has disrupted tea collection at the centre, with farmers saying they will not resume deliveries until their demands are met.

One of the farmers said a director subsequently ordered that no tea be collected, forcing a factory vehicle to leave without picking up the produce.

The farmers have since camped at the buying centre, insisting that they will not leave until the disputed tea is bought.

"We have slept here since yesterday. We spent the whole day here and the whole night here. We woke up here and we will not leave until this tea is bought," one of the protesting farmers said.

The growers warned that the delay in collecting green leaf could result in financial losses, saying freshly harvested tea loses weight and deteriorates the longer it remains uncollected.

Buying centre chairperson Rose Nyambura Mwai said she had attempted to intervene and resolve the dispute but her efforts had been unsuccessful.

Leading the protest, farmer Patrick Muchina said the growers were united in their decision, insisting that tea was their main source of livelihood and that the standoff had disrupted their farming activities.

"I'm a farmer here, I've been selling tea here, my fathers have been selling tea here and we are stakeholders of this KN Eleven. I'm talking on behalf of the farmers, that this tea has to be bought by KTDA," Muchina said.

He called for an urgent resolution, saying families in the area depended on tea earnings and had few alternative sources of income.

"We want this tea to be bought today, so that people can go back to their farms and work. We have children here who depend on tea. We don't have industries here. We depend on tea," he said.

Another farmer said the dispute had also affected other agricultural activities, with some growers abandoning harvesting as they camped at the buying centre.