NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 23- The Kenya Tea Development Agency, KTDA, started processing earnings of tea farmers on Friday after its ICT services were restored days after its computers were taken away by detectives.
KTDA through a statement said the restoration process had started and he agency was processing some payments.
“The company is however progressively restoring the core system from alternative sources to working capacity and resume operations,” KTDA said.
KTDA an ongoing probe which resulted in the seizure of computers had caused a delay in the processing of farmers’ payments for green leaf delivered in March 2021.
Farmers usually receive these payments on or about the 24th of the following month which will not be possible this month.
However, following the partial restoration of ICT services, processing payments was now in progress.
“We expect to complete and release green leaf payments to the farmers in the course of next week,” the agency added.
Following the raid on its premises by a government multi-agency team on April 16, 2021, the critical ICT infrastructure hardware and documents taken away are yet to be returned.
KTDA added that this has resulted in a major disruption of its services to smallholder farmers and other stakeholders.
The agency insisted there was nothing to hide regarding its operations, financial transactions, and business.
The Group said it conducts legitimate business above board, facilitating its 620,000 farmers to process and sell their tea locally and in the global market.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers raided KTDA’s headquarters on allegations of malpractices in the firm that were leading to dwindling returns for farmers.
President Uhuru Kenyatta also raised concerns on how the agency has conducted its business over the years, saying in some instances, “acted contrary to applicable Kenyan laws, including the Companies Act; as well as acting against the interests of small-holder farmers despite them being its core constituents.”
