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No. 9010, Nairobi, Monday, November 20, 1989 Price KSh4/50
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By HUMPHREY
KAREGA
A group of young men
said to be goading
Murang'a farmers to
maintain a tea-picking
boycott setqpon two
Kenya Tea Develop.
ment Authority employees at the weekend seriously injuring them.
Yesterday, the Kangema
District Officer, Mr Chirchjr
Chebii, said police were holding five peple in connection
with the f'riday attack at
Rwathia shoppin_g centre 'in
the Kangema Division of
Murang'a District.
At the same time, armed policemen deployed in the tea-growing areas of Kangema and Kiharu
Constituencie s on Saturday to
provide security to tea farmers
resisting the boycott.
Mr Chebji said he had received
the names of the people inciting
farmers to boycott tea-picking.
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transferring tea leaves from a
trailer stuck in mud into another
lorry when they were attacked at
10 pm by 10 young men armed
with pangas and rungus.
The group approached the two
men from behind. One of them
said, ''(zja nio andu aria
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- Madd Studios Inc..
He had also mstructed the area's
administration perspnnel and the
members of the tea-buyin g committees in Kiriti Location, the
major tea growin g zone in the division, to hold barazas at the centres and warn the agitators
Mr James Macharja, a -tea leaf
clerk, and Mr Peter Mwangi, a
KTDA vehicle mechanic, were
PAGE 19 Col. 3
maratwendia" (these are the
people who are selling us).
And before the two men could
react, the group set upon them
with rungus and pangas. The tea
officials fell down bleeing profusely and heard their attackers
say as they fled: ' 'Nimegotuona!
G'uku gugutuo macani! (They
will see! I here'll be no tea-picking here).
During the attack, Mr
Macharia was robbed of his
national identity card and Mr
Mwangi of a pair of gumboots.
Mr Macharia told the Nation
at Kanyenyaini tea factory that
he was slashed three times on the
head and thrown into a ditch
where he was left for dead.
Mr Mwangi said he was
slashed twice on the head, on the
left ear and on the forehead.
Two other KTDA employees
heading towards Kihoya to collect tea leaves found the two men
and took .them to Kangema
Health Centre where they were
given first-aid.
They were later ta-ken to
Murang'a District Hospital where
Mr Macharia received eight
stitches and Mr Mwangi 13.
The Kanyenyaini tea leaf o ffi cer, Mr B.G. Manji, said KTDA
lorry drivers and tea leaf clerks
had been threatened they would
be killed if they continued collect-.
ing tea at the buying centres.
- Mr .Manji said that on Saturday night, police foiled an ambush along Tuthu, Kanyenyaini
and Kia-wa-Mbogo roads where a
- group ofjeople had planned to
attack K IDA lorry dnvers trans
porting tea from the buying centres to the factory.
Police were called from
Nyakianga and Kangema at 7.20
pm. They took up positions along
the road and put paid to the am- bushers' plans.
At Ichichi sub-location in
Kiharu, police have since Saturday been escorting KTDA lorries
transporting tea to Githambo
factory after farmers from Gatara.
village armed themselves with
spears and stones in readiness to
attack the drivers.
A farmer from Murarandia location in Kiharu told the Nation
that farmers from the area were
maintaining the boycott and
would notpick tea until the price
was raised.
The Kanyenyaini tea' factory
assistant manager, Mr N.K.M.
King'ara, said some farmers in
the area were delivering tea to
the factory and over 35,000 kilos
of green tea leaf had been de1iv
ered by Saturday.
Mr King'ara said the factory
was being guarded by armed police and that despite the death
threats, the employees would
continue to collect tea leaves
from the buying centres since
they did not want to keep the
farmers waiting.
He said Muràng'a district produced a quarter of the total tea
crop in the country- and there was
a need for more factories in the
district to- cope with the increased production.
Trouble in the Murang'a tea
industry started on November 3
when more than 31,000 tea farmers decided to boycott pickinj tea
because of poor payments. Soon
Kanyenyaini, Githambo and
Gatunguru tea factories were
closed down while Ikumbi,
Makomboki and Njunu tea factories were forced to operate below capacity. Duringa district tea committee
meeting held at Ikumbi tea factory in Kigumo division last
Tuesday. the -memiers annealed
to the Government to arrest
those inciting the farmers against
pickipg the tea. One of the inciters has already been identified by
the Murang'a District Commissioner as a senior official in the
tea indsutry.
On Saturday, the Minister for
Agriculture, Mr Mama Wanjigi
blamed people out to politicise
the committee appointed recently
g President Moito investigate
e KTDA forthe farmers'
boycott.
Speaking at Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport shortly after arriving from London, Mr
Wanjigi said overreaction by
farmers would jeopardise the
smooth running of the tea industry. He asked them to be patient
and allow the probe committee to
compile its report.
Meanwhile, a former Cabinet
Minister and current chairman of
the Kenya Broadcasting Corpo. ration, Dr Julius Kiano, yesterday called on tea farmers to stop
the boycott.
In a press statement, Dr Kiano
commended President Moi for
instigating a probe in the tea
industry.
He tld the boycotting farmers
their failure to deliver tea to the
factories was a loss not only to
them but the country as a whole.
He said the farmers had misconstrued the President's unhappiness regarding the prices paid
to tea farmers and urged them to
stop the boycott to facilitate
prompt work and
recomendations by the probe
committee.
Dr Kiano said the tea issue
should not bepoliticised and
called for an end to the fruitless
accusations, rumour and apportioning of blame.