Ekaterra Tea Plc Tuesday suspended operations in the South Rift region over insecurity.
This is a day after a group of protesters torched tea picking machines at Brooke area in Kericho County on Monday May 22, 2023 sparking running battles with police.
All 16,000 employees of the multinational tea company will not report to work until the security situation is addressed by the government and other stakeholders, the company said.
Large tea producers operating in Kericho, Bomet, Nyamira and Nandi counties will also scale down their operations until adequate security measures are in place.
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This is in solidarity with Ekaterra, officials said.
The Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) – the umbrella body for multinational and local private tea companies – appealed to President William Ruto to intervene and restore order in the region.
There have been chaos at the farms in the past months leading to destruction of property and injuries on police.
,KTGA chairman Silas Njibwakale accompanied by Ms Slyvia Ten Den, the Ekaterra Tea Company managing director responsible for Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, said the security situation had got out of hand.
“We appeal to the President to intervene and restore order, protect local and foreign investments and avoid a situation where Kenya loses its international tea market niche,” Njibwakale said.
He said there had been a notable escalation in insecurity in the estates, with the breakdown of law and order severely disrupting business operations and thus hampering the growth of the tea industry.
He added the chaos started in October 2022 with daylight raids and theft of tea leaves and machinery and has now escalated to organised attacks on business premises and deliberate destruction of critical assets.
The association said the burning of police vehicles, tea plucking machines, tractors, injuries to workers and policemen have hampered business operations of the various companies involved.
James Finlays Tea Company Managing Director Simeon Hutchinson said they have also been a major victim of the chaotic situation in the region over the past year.
They called on the highest levels of government and security agencies to take immediate and decisive action on the matter.
On Monday, residents of Brooke Estate in Kericho invaded the Kapgorech and Chagaik tea estates owned by Ekaterra Tea Estates, where two self-propelled mechanical harvesters, seven mechanical hand-pickers and a tractor were burnt.
Several police officers were injured in the ensuing running battles with the protesters.
At least seven police officers have been seriously injured in the past two months while dispersing residents who had invaded Ekaterra and James Finlay’s estates to illegally pick green leaves.
There was no immediate word from State House over the chaos which will leave thousands of workers jobless for now.