NAIROBI, Kenya – President William Ruto will on Thursday host representatives of tea farmers at State House, Nairobi, where he is set to hand over a cheque of more than Sh2 billion recovered from two collapsed banks.
The funds, which belong to the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Holdings, were trapped in Chase Bank and Imperial Bank when they went under five years ago.
The money has since been recovered through the Deposit Protection Fund operated by the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC).
According to a memo signed by KTDA Company Secretary Mathews Odero, about 400 factory directors and representatives from the 54 KTDA-managed factories across 16 tea-growing counties have been invited to the meeting scheduled for 1:00 pm.
“The meeting shall mark the handover of payment of deposit held by KTDA Holding Ltd under Chase Bank Ltd (in liquidation) and Imperial Bank Ltd (in liquidation),” the memo, dated September 9, reads.
Key constituency
KTDA works directly with more than 611,000 smallholder farmers and indirectly supports over four million Kenyans, making the sector a crucial political and economic constituency.
Successive governments have leaned heavily on tea farmers, who form a key voting bloc while contributing significantly to foreign exchange earnings.
Tea, coffee, and horticulture have historically topped Kenya’s export list, though they were recently overtaken by diaspora remittances as the leading forex source.
Previous recoveries
In 2020, KTDA secured a partial payout of Sh1.7 billion — Sh1.4 billion from Chase Bank and Sh300 million from Imperial Bank.
Thursday’s handover will add to the total recovered, with officials hopeful of recouping the remaining balance.
KDIC, a state corporation, is mandated to insure deposits and oversee liquidation of failed banks, safeguarding depositors from losing their money.
Fertiliser subsidy boost
The meeting comes as Ruto’s administration also rolls out a Sh2 billion subsidised fertiliser programme targeted at tea farmers.
Over 180,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser have been distributed in the past two years, allowing farmers to buy at the government-recommended price of Sh2,500 per bag.
Former KTDA national chair Enos Njeru welcomed the initiative, saying it would ease production costs while boosting yields.
This will be Ruto’s second meeting with KTDA directors since taking office, signalling his focus on the tea sector as part of his broader agricultural reforms agenda and his efforts to reassure farmers of expanded markets and government support.
