Workers pick tea leaves in a tea plantation.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has started interrogating former officials of Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) over embezzlement of Sh600 million farmers’ cash.
Former KTDA director Kennedy Omanga is this week expected at the DCI headquarters to record statements over the cash allegedly embezzled by some top officials.
Investigators from the DCI’s Economic Crimes Unit have also been in Mombasa to record statements on the activities at the tea auction amid crisis of multi-billion-shilling tea that is unsold.
The team, which is headed by a Chief Inspector of DCI, has recorded statements and obtained documents including on the volumes of tea shipped out of the country in the last three years.
A senior official at the DCI told Nation that this fresh investigation has been triggered by a State House meeting between the current directors of KTDA and President Ruto.
Mr Omanga, who is a former company secretary, is expected to appear before DCI Economic Crimes Unit investigators on Tuesday.
Investigating officer, Chief Inspector Kennedy Kaloki , who issued the summons, has warned Mr Omanga that he risks arrest and prosecution if he fails to present himself before the investigators.
In the summons seen by the Nation, the investigators explained that Mr Omanga is in possession of crucial information on the investigations being conducted by the DCI.
“Failure to comply with the requisition will render you liable to prosecution, “ Mr Kaloki warned.
The summons were issued via WhatsApp and email.
But Mr Omanga, who spoke to the Nation on phone, said he was yet to receive the police summons.
Mr Omanga said the DCI was yet to contact him but would present himself before the investigators once he receives the police summons.
“Have I signed anywhere in that document? I am not aware of any such summons,” he said on Saturday.
Mr Omanga at the same time denied any role in the loss of the cash when he served in the board of KTDA.
“I was not in any way involved in any cash transactions while there,“ he stated.
Enos Njeru, the newly appointed KTDA chairman, told Nation his administration was keen to recover the millions of shillings lost before he assumed office.
Mr Njeru, who has been appointed for a second term at the helm of the tea agency, said the current leadership had held a series of consultative meetings with top government officials over the missing cash.
In June, Mr Njeru said, he had met President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi, where the issue of the lost funds was first discussed.
In another meeting in April, Mr Njeru and his fellow directors had asked the Head of State to order the full implementation of the inspection report as part of tea reforms.
A follow up meeting was scheduled to happen in September.
“As a board we want farmers to get back their money,” Mr Njeru said.
State House is yet to communicate when the next meeting between the KTDA board and the president will take place.
In his campaign pledges, President Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua promised to reform the tea sector and ensure that farmers earn better prices.
The president also promised to implement the taskforce report by a multi-agency team on tea reforms.
In 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta had directed the inquiry into the financial activities at KTDA. At the time, KTDA was faced by leadership wrangles and claims of financial impropriety.
The then Attorney General Kihara Kariuki constituted the team that included officers from DCI, the AG’s office, National Intelligence Service, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, and Asset Recovery Agency.
The report has been gathering dust at the AG’s chambers with no action on the key recommendations.
Mr Wilson Njenga, a former senior official at the office of the president and Mr Arthur Osiya, who were joint chairs of the inspection team, on July 9, 2021, handed over the report to the AG, Mr Kihara.
The 130-page confidential report that laid bare the massive plunder of farmers’ cash has also been presented to President Ruto.
According to the report, small scale tea farmers lost close to Sh 600 million in dubious transactions orchestrated by some top officials at KTDA.
The audit revealed that another Sh 3 billion that was meant to pay farmers their dividends is still being held in two commercial banks that have since collapsed.
The president is said to have directed the full implementation of the report including the prosecution of top managers at KTDA.
This audit, named Inspection Report of Kenya Tea Development Agency, has outlined how farmers have been impoverished by corrupt KTDA officials who diverted farmers’ cash for personal benefits.
The report also recommended the surcharging of KTDA officials linked to the financial malpractice.
“Arising from the notable conflict of interest, some directors and senior managers were found to be culpable and should be surcharged or prosecuted as appropriate,” the report recommend.
The report has outlined 12 issues that the government needs to urgently implement as part of the tea reforms.
It flagged lack of financial transparency at KTDA, trade between KTDA and some countries that have no formal banking systems, malpractice at the tea auction in Mombasa and non-compliance with tax obligations.
The report has also recommended that the government should look into irregular purchase of land and exaggerated legal fees which have been cited as part of a wider scheme to embezzle farmers’ cash.
One incident of plunder that stood out was the purchase of land by the KTDA directors who failed to conduct due diligence. As a result, farmers lost Sh542 million in the dubious lands transactions.
The investigation further revealed that another Sh101 million was lost through over payment to some lawyers and advocates who were appointed to represent KTDA.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has been spearheading the tea reforms, has been holding meetings with top leadership of KTDA.
Mr Gachagua last Friday met the current board at an induction meeting in Mombasa where he directed the team to seal all loopholes exploited to steal cash.
The last meeting on August 16 between the board and Mr Gachagua was held amid agitation that some of the former directors should be locked out of contesting KTDA elections.
However, the meeting resolved that present and former directors would be allowed to contest the upcoming KTDA elections.
It was also during this meeting that a consensus was reached on some of the issues that have been a subject of intense fights between the current board of directors and the ousted team.
