The leadership wrangles facing Michimikuru tea factory in Meru County have been linked to a fight over a Sh600 million project.
Michimikuru tea factory has been in turmoil since November last year when the management declared the lowest bonus payout in the region at Sh35.
This sparked protests from farmers leading to destruction of the factory’s tea estate and a clamor to oust the current board of directors.
Despite the directors moving to court to block their removal, a section of farmers, early this year, went ahead to elect ‘interim directors’ in a process backed by local politicians.
So vicious is the wrangle that the current directors have been blocked from accessing the factory offices. On the other hand, the interim team cannot operate as they lack legal instruments.
The fights have seen the factory miss out in the first tea sale at the Mombasa Auction this year while the second sale attracted lower prices compared to their peers.
Even as an audit ordered by Agriculture Principal Secretary Paul Rono continues, some farmers have accused a senior politician in Tigania East of instigating the removal of the duly elected directors.
They have now attributed the infighting on upcoming award of contract for the construction of the multimillion Amugaa factory whose tender was advertised in May last year.
Farmers now say the chaos is meant to stall the procurement process and replace the current directors with those ready to do the politician’s bidding.
“A company linked to the politician was awarded a contract for building firewood sheds at Michimikuru. However, the contractor did shoddy work and the board refused to pay.”
“Gutters were not installed and the roof was leaking. The politician used his powers to threaten and coerce the board into paying the money,” Mr Charles Gitonga the factory vice chairman said.
He said the controversial contract led to a fallout between the politician and the board.
“The politician has been eyeing the Sh600 million contract but the board has rejected his demands because of past experience. They have now taken advantage of the farmers’ complaints about the bonus to cause chaos,” Mr Gitonga added.
Former Michimikuru Tea Factory chairman Francis Akula also linked the wrangles to political interference.
“The big question that the directors should ask themselves is why the factory has been infiltrated by politicians. Recently, the area MP introduced the interim directors in a public meeting.”
“It is the current board who invited the politicians and started working with them. Once they could not meet the politician’s demands, hell broke loose,” Mr Akula said.
Mr Gervase King’ori, a former director, said the protests over low bonus payout gave politicians an opportunity to meddle into the factory affairs.
“The politicians who are leading the fight have previously been awarded contracts at the factory. The ongoing fight is partly around the construction of Amugaa tea factory. There are people fighting to secure the multimillion tender,” Mr King’ori said.
Mr Lairang’i Kilingo lamented that the wrangles bedeviling Michimikuru are hurting their earnings this year.
“We will not allow bad politics to kill our cash crop like it happened to coffee. We will stand by the duly elected directors,” Mr Kilingo said.
Ms Georgina Kauna noted that the conflict has led to hefty losses including burning of the factory estate, a decline in green leaf supply and heavy spending on security.
During the second tea sale of 2025 at the Mombasa auction, Michimikuru attracted an average price of 2.75 USD, one of the lowest in the East of the Rift.
Michimikuru chairman Stephen Kathiri also blamed the wrangles on politicians who were keen on controlling the affairs of the tea factory.
According to Mr Kathiri, the internal wrangles at the factory have devastating effects on farmers’ earnings this year.
“Buyers do not want to spend their money on buying from factories in conflict. I urge farmers to remain calm and provide quality green leaf for processing,” Mr Kathiri said.
Last week, the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) board protested what they termed increasing cases of political interference.
They cited ‘direct interference on board disputes at Michimikuru Tea Factory and a directive by Agriculture PS suspending directors’.
The KTDA holdings Board accused PS Rono and Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi of visiting the factory and suspending the board against the Companies Act.
“It is worthy to note that officers of the National Police Service aided the convening of an illegal meeting and the same officers could not contain violence organised by the conveners of illegal meetings during the Annual General Meeting in December 2024.” The board stated.
They now want all parties to obey a court order stopping any changes in the factory.
