Nairobi — The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) and the Government will not be fronting candidates in the forthcoming elections of directors of small holder tea factories, chairman, Jacob Kamau has stated.
The chairman said that the 728,000 small holder tea farmers affiliated to the 54 Kenya Tea Development Agency factories are free to elect directors of their choice during the elections which are slated for June 28.
"Some people keep saying we (Government and TBK) have a preferred candidate but let me state it here that we have no candidate. It is going to be 100 per cent up to the farmers to elect the directors of their choice without tomorrow saying their leaders were imposed on them," he said.
Kamau was speaking in Nyeri during a meeting held between TBK, security officers from Eastern and Central region and election officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC) on the level of preparedness for the polls.
He said that the decision to have the elections on June 28 was informed by a ruling made by the Constitutional Court directing that the elections be held before July 1.
"The court pronounced itself by saying that election of directors of KTDA factories had to happen before July 1, so we are trying to comply with that court order. The president has also okayed that we must comply with that court order," he said.
The tea factory directors' elections are set to be conducted in a total of 1,705 polling stations across the seven tea growing regions. The tea farmers are seeking to elect into office some 324 factory directors who will serve a three-year term.
TBK, which is overseeing the elections, has already entered into an agreement with the IEBC to conduct the polls. Earlier this week, the regulator issued a circular to all KTDA tea factories declaring vacancies for the director's position.
Each of the factories will conduct the elections based on their memoranda and articles of association. Kamau said that the farmers will chose their directors through secret ballot.
The voting exercise will start at 7 am and end at 3 pm to pave way for counting and announcement of winners on the same day.
Similarly, the chair noted that unlike in the past elections where voters were determined by a farmer's shareholding in a factory, this year's election will solely be conducted on the "one farmer one vote" principle.
"This is the time we are going to have the one man one vote and the elections will be through secret ballot," stated the chairman.
He at the same time reiterated that the elections will be free, fair and credible despite the electoral body lacking a chairperson and some of the commissioners.
"The elections will be legitimate because the management of IEBC is still there. It doesn't mean that because they don't have some of the commissioners the operations of the executive cannot happen. The IEBC conducted the elections for the Law Society of Kenya which were legitimate," said Kamau.
The TBK chair said that the returning officers and presiding officers are already on the ground. Shortlisted aspirants for the post will be vetted by the IEBC before they are cleared to run.
The electoral body will then post the names of the successful candidates alongside the election timetable in all the 3,500 tea buying centres.
Among the requirements for aspirants eyeing the seat include a Sh10,000 nonrefundable nomination fee, growers payslip for 12 consecutive months preceding the elections (from June 2023 to May 2024), a self-handwritten application form and a valid tax compliance certificate.
The candidates will also be required to submit their academic and professional certificates as well as clearance certificates from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal investigations.
In its new manual for elections of directors of smallholder tea factories, TBK has set the minimum academic qualification to O-level with the candidate expected to be able to communicate in English and Kiswahili.
The chairman warned aspirants against engaging in electoral malpractices adding that those found culpable will be prosecuted.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"Presenting fake certificates is an election offense. You will also be sued and you may lose your seat if we discover that you presented fake documents so aspirants should be careful," said Kamau.
"We have also asked the factory management to certify the payslips and verify the kilograms because if the managers give us the wrong information they will be held liable and they risk getting sued," he added.
On his part, Central Region Commissioner, Fredrick Shisia together with his Eastern Region counterpart, Paul Rotich assured the TBK, KTDA and the IEBC of their security during the exercise. Central region RC, Fredrick Shisia said that in addition to providing logistical support, the security team will also be mapping the hotspots ahead of the elections.
"They have given us statistics of the polling stations, the expected number of voters and the parameters they will be using to clear the candidates. Ours is to ensure that the elections are free from any criminalities or any incidents that will jeopardize the enforcement of the law," said Shisia.
