The tea farmers elect one-third of factory company directors on rotation and the candidates are subject to the nomination process according to Company Act 2015/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 4 – More than 200,000 tea farmers will go to the polls on Tuesday to elect new directors for the 54 Tea Factory Companies managed by Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) Management Services Limited.
The annual elections will be conducted in 106 electoral areas of the 53 tea factory companies, with shareholders of each factory required to elect two of six directors who are on rotation.
The tea farmers elect one-third of factory company directors on rotation and the candidates are subject to the nomination process according to Company Act 2015.
KTDA CEO Lerionka Tiampati said that the electoral exercise will be free and fair, adding that voting will be by shares through a secret ballot system.
Preparations for the poll are complete with more than 200 aspirants contesting in the elections, after being cleared through an elaborate process managed by KTDA.
In 37 electoral areas, candidates will go in unopposed, Tiampati said.
The annual poll is part of the factory Corporate Governance process that requires shareholders to elect representatives to their Boards.
The elections are held prior to the factory AGMs scheduled to start on November 8.
The AGMs are being held earlier than the traditional date of January in line with new guidelines of the Companies Act 2015 which require a company to hold its AGM within six months of the end of their financial year.
