The woes facing tea and miraa farmers have become a new political battlefront for Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya and Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi as the 2022 General Election nears.
Mr Murungi will be defending his seat and CS Munya is interested in reclaiming the position he lost in the 2017 poll.
While Mr Murungi has accused the CS of failing to restore miraa farmers’ lost market after the stimulant was banned in Somalia over a year ago, Mr Munya says the governor is using their woes as a political stick to beat opponents with.
Mr Murungi has made inroads in Mr Munya’s Igembe and Tigania political backyards, riding on his proposed solutions to the problems facing the sector.
A section of key leaders from Igembe, who were previously supporters of Mr Munya, have switched their allegiance to Mr Murungi, accusing the CS of doing little to influence the reopening of the Somalia market.
Mr Murungi has won over CS Munya’s supporters, including his once sworn enemy Maore Maoka (Igembe North MP).
Yesterday, county chief of staff Gideon Kimathi, the governor’s point man, said Mr Munya duped farmers when he told them they would get huge tea bonuses this year.
“Let him be realistic and stop playing politics with the plight of tea farmers. He is on record telling them they would get a bonus of Sh100 a kilo but going by market dynamics there is no way the bonus can get to that level,” Mr Kimathi said in a phone interview.
“Now that the bonuses are lower than they were last year he should take responsibility, tell farmers the truth and apologise for giving them empty promises.”
But speaking at Kionyo Tea Factory, Mr Munya also explained the bonus payments were based on green leaf delivered between June 2020 and June 2021.
The CS reiterated that his fight against tea cartels was bearing fruit, and asked farmers to be patient despite the low bonus payments announced this year.
On miraa, he accused the county boss of exploiting the closure of the miraa export market to make inroads in his strongholds.
He accused the governor of purporting to seek markets in Djibouti and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), saying the efforts were “futile”.
“Sending delegations to Djibouti and DRC is a waste of time and public resources. They blame me for the closure of the export market but I did not instruct the Somalia government to take that drastic measure. They are blaming the wrong person,” the CS told tea farmers at Kiegoi Tea Factory in Igembe South on Saturday.
Mr Munya and Mr Murungi are also locked in a battle in the Kiagu ward by-election, with the CS campaigning for Jubilee Party candidate Samson Ngaruni while the governor’s men have vowed to ensure he loses.
The October 14 election has, however, been stopped by the High Court in Nairobi after the suspension of ballot paper printing for the mini poll until a petition filed by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria’s Chama cha Kazi (CCK) is determined.
The party moved to court after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) disqualified its candidate, Milton Mwenda, on the grounds that he had not resigned from the public service within the stipulated time.
