KENYA: Kenya tea estate looted and torched, workers flee

Record ID: 361975

  • Title: KENYA: Kenya tea estate looted and torched, workers flee
  • Date: 7th January 2008
  • Summary: (BN10) KERICHO, KENYA (JANUARY 6, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BURNED OUT BUILDING ON ESTATE TEA PLANTATION
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA4UM5WT1PVWMJYV586SI2GGJD3
  • Story Text: A tea estate in Kenya's fertile tea growing area of Kericho is looted and torched as thousands escape from ethnic violence in the region after the country's disputed elections.
    Looters in one of Kenya's major tea-growing areas in the Rift Valley struck Unilever's Chebown tea estate in a bout of post-election violence, causing workers to flee.
    Looters torched the farm's tractors and trucks, looted and burned its storage facility and tried to burn the tea plants, but were foiled by cold, moist weather.
    The attacks were on Wednesday (January 2) and Thursday (January 3), as the country was plunged into a bout of post-election violence after a disputed result announced on December 30.
    Chebown's Managing Director, Francis Kappich insisted the attacks would not intefere with the productivity of the estate but said the weather was the major concern.

    "We believe that immediately we start back we can continue with production to the same levels except if there is drought because it is now begining to be a bit dry compared with normal times, and as we are speaking now, we don't have much crop in the field simply because there has been no rain since the end of November," he said.
    Witnesses said eight workers were killed in the attacks.

    "We are still worried if we will be safe, because our safety is weak, the policemen are not here, we are not seeing any police, we still doubt for our lives. So every person is just intending to go home after getting his salary," said Oliver Udulu, a worker on the farm.
    Most attacks are on communities seen as supporting President Mwai Kibaki, whom the opposition accuses of rigging a hotly contested election, which plunged the country into a week of violence.
    Some of the local Kalenjin tribe support the opposition, and mobs of young Kalenjin men have gone on a rampage across the Rift Valley, targeting tribes seen as pro-government.
    Chebown employs 12,000 permanent workers and up to 500 casual labourers. Kappich said he expected the workers will return,
    "I believe that the leaders have been talking to the people around here. We need to live together, it will take time to heal this. But I believe that once we are back to business here, once we can guarantee them security within our property, definitely they will come back and we would also welcome them back anytime when the security is okay," he said The government has called some of the killing genocide plotted by the opposition. The opposition rejects that.
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