The National Assembly will soon issue its report on tea reforms after the Committee on Delegated Legislation concluded its tour of the country.
Speaking on Tuesday in Mombasa after a meeting with key stakeholders in the Tea industry, the committee chairman Willy Kamket said it has visited all the major tea growing regions in the republic and interacted with key stakeholders.
”We gathered various views from both large and small tea farmers touching on growing to the entire value chain and will be writing our report based on the regulations that have been presented before us all,” said Kamket who is also Tiaty Member of Parliament.
He said farmers had expressed divergent views over the reforms being undertaken by the government to streamline the tea sector.
During the visit at the Chai Trading Limited plant in Mombasa County, the committee witnessed activities at warehousing and storage facilities in Miritini area.
The legislators were taken around by the CBhai Trading Company Limited Managing Director Charles Mbui.
Chai Trading Company is a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Kenya Tea Development Agency Holdings Limited.
They are market leaders in warehousing business in the region with over 1 million square feet of warehouse space in Mombasa.
The firm handles import of machinery and other equipment as well as fertilizer for the small holder tea farmers. It is also a buyer member of the East Africa Tea Trade Association (EATTA) currently ranked amongst the top five buyers at the Mombasa Tea Auction.
By Mohamed Hassan
