Local pyrethrum farmers and key stakeholders have faulted the appointment of the chairperson of the financially troubled Pyrethrum Processing Company of Kenya (PPCK) by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Kenyatta has appointed Mr George Wachira as the chairperson of the PPCK board for three years with effect from March 28, 2021.
The farmers are also unhappy with the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya for appointing Ms Stella Wanjiru, Mr Lawrence Munene Ngari, Mr Bowen Chebwai, Ms Nasra Kochale and Mr Janaro Guantai Ithinji to the PPCK board.
Interestingly, five of the board members namely- Mr Wachira, Mr Ngari, Mr Chebwai, Ms Kochale and Mr Guantai were last year appointed by the CS in the national steering committee on the revival of cotton and pyrethrum value chains.
The national steering committee has not made its report public since its appointment in May last year.
The Pyrethrum Growers Association (PGA) say appointment of members of the steering committee to the board is tantamount to conflict of interest as they are unlikely to implement their report.
"You cannot appoint members of a steering committee investigating what is ailing the sector to be directors, this is unprofessional. The pyrethrum sector is manned in five zones including Nyanza, Western, Eastern, Central and South Rift Valley and a balanced representation is key to its revival," said PGA national chairperson Justus Mochache Monda.
He said the appointment of the board of directors was a move in the right direction adding: "We have no problems with the directors as individuals but of importance is that farmers in those regions should have been allowed to appoint directors before forwarding the names to the CS for approval."
“With this kind of boardroom appointments, farmers are not sure whether the government is serious about reviving the ailing pyrethrum sector," added Mr Monda.
"Pyrethrum is owned by farmers and in the spirit of public participation as enshrined in the Constitution, farmers should have been consulted on the best way to revive the sector," said Mr Monda.
He added: “After waiting for nearly 10 years without a substantive board to run the company, it would have been fair for the Agriculture CS to do his homework and get the farmers’ views on the new board members and ultimately pick the board from the 18 pyrethrum growing counties instead of rewarding cronies who may have no idea on what is ailing the sector.”
However, Mr Wilson Wachira welcomed the appointment of the new board.
"The board should now move with speed and recover PPCK assets which have been sold illegally. We want the board to sell some of these assets and pay its debts including the pensioners’ long-pending dues of Sh2 billion," said Mr Wachira.
The Nakuru-based pioneer pyrethrum processing company has been declared insolvent by the Auditor- General and only government bailout can resuscitate it.
The company has operated without a board for nearly 10 years. The government has appointed several acting managing directors who have not succeeded in reviving the pyrethrum sector that used to earn the country over Sh10 billion in the 1980s.
