A dispute between a British-owned tea plantation and a local community in western Kenya has come to the boil in what could be a sign of turbulent times ahead for tea producers facing a growing backlash over colonial-era injustices.
On the rolling green hills of the Sitoi estate in Nandi County, more than 100 residents are occupying 350 acres (140 hectares) of land, picking tea and living in huts made of mud and rusty iron sheets while grazing their cattle.
They say the land was gifted to them in 1986 by Eastern Produce Kenya. EPK, which is majority owned by London-listed Camellia Plc, says the gift was for 202 acres (82 hectares), not the 550 acres (222 hectares) that the local Kimasas farmers’ cooperative claims, The PUNCH reports.
Kimasas chairman Daniel Biwott said his grandfather lived on the land before it was seized by British colonists around 1905 and that reclaiming the disputed 350 acres would right a historical wrong.
“Nothing has happened all these years,” said Biwott, standing among knee-high bushes where he, his father and his grandfather once worked as EPK employees. “This is the time to solve it.”
The standoff follows several violent incidents at estates in Kenya, the world’s fourth-leading tea producer. In January, a farm belonging to Sri Lankan-owned Browns Plantations was attacked and more than 100 eucalyptus trees uprooted, according to the Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA).
The industry group said in a statement that “criminal gangs who appear to enjoy political cover” were behind the “Zimbabwe-like illegal land invasion” of Sitoi, referring to seizures of white-owned farms in the early 2000s.
It said EPK was losing over $200,000 per month and the incidents threaten an industry that accounts for nearly a quarter of Kenya’s export revenues and supports five million livelihoods.
Several people working on land issues said the attacks reflect broader frustration with a failure to remedy colonial land grabs.
“I have tried hard to use the legal system,” said Joel Kimutai Bosek, a lawyer who has brought litigation against tea companies and the UK government on behalf of local communities without success. “I think the new or coming generation will be more aggressive.”