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The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) is in a difficult position after an MP demanded that parliament investigates the agency over the Sh3 billion raised through deductions from farmers for the construction of small hydro-power generation projects in Bomet County.

In a petition to the National Assembly, Konoin MP Brighton Yegon says that the lack of detailed reporting and progress updates on the projects points to a possible financial mismanagement that parliament should investigate and recommend compensation to the affected farmers.

The amount has been deducted from the small holder farmers in Bomet and the neighbouring counties since 2014 towards the small hydro- power projects.

“Your humble petitioners pray that the National Assembly investigates the alleged financial management in regard to generating power by KTDA on behalf of the smallholder tea farmers in Bomet County and other surrounding counties in the west of Rift Valley,” the petition reads.

KTDA Holdings limited is Kenya’s largest tea management agency with its subsidiary- KTDA power company- managing the small hydropower projects some of which include Lower Nyamindi, South Mara, Iraru and North Mathioya. Gura hydropower station is also another of KTDA’s power projects.

The KTDA’s small hydropower projects are designed to reduce the cost of energy for tea factories, reduce carbon emissions and provide an alternative energy source for tea farmers.

The power projects are typically located near farm plots and households and are designed to minimize impact on the community.

In undertaking the investigations, Mr Yegon wants the Cabinet Secretaries for Agriculture and Livestock, and Energy among other relevant authorities, summoned to shed light over what they know about the hydropower projects that have since gone quiet.

KTDA, as the managing agent for the smallholder tea farmers, undertook to initiate projects on behalf of the tea farmers in generating power through the proposed hydro-power.

The proposed hydro-power projects were projected to provide substantial returns, “which would have directly benefited the farmers by lowering energy expenses in tea factories thus lowering cost of production and potentially increasing profits.”

“Since inception of the project in 2014, more than 10 years after the initial contributions, not a single hydro-power project has been completed. Farmers have been left in uncertainty and frustration due to the lack of progress in the said projects,” says Mr Yegon.

The delayed construction of the hydropower projects in the area means that the expected benefits such as reduced energy costs and increased income “have not materialized, leaving farmers in financial distress.”

In the pursuit of the truth, the petitioners want parliament to make a recommendation compelling the KTDA management to provide a detailed report within 30 days on the status of the hydro-power projects.

The status report, the petitioners say, should include how the funds were invested and the reasons for the inordinate delay of the projects.

“We also pray for the due compensation of all smallholder tea farmers in the affected region, who have been deducted the funds since 2014,” the petitioners noted even as they sought “any other necessary recommendation the committee deems fit to address the issues raised in this petition.”

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