A man who was filmed sexually harassing female workers in a BBC exposé has been elected to the board of a Kenyan tea factory supplying major UK brands.
John Chebochok, one of the individuals accused of exploiting workers in last year’s Panorama documentary, Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea, has this week been elected to head Tegat’s Toror factory in Kenya’s Kericho area.
The factory supplies tea to brands including PG Tips, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley. It is run by the KTDA (Kenyan Tea Development Authority), which is one of the largest suppliers of Kenyan tea to the UK.
In Kenya’s tea factory elections this week, thousands of smallholders voted for the director roles of their local processing plants. The elections were overseen by the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the body responsible for vetting the candidates.
Chebochok, who was captured on camera harassing female workers in the undercover investigation broadcast by the BBC in February 2023, was allowed to run for the election this past weekend. He had previously been fired by James Finlays Kenya (now Browns) due to the findings of the investigations.
The Grocer understands most big British tea buyers have raised their concerns with the KTDA as well as with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Development.
PG Tips owner Lipton, Tetley and Yorkshire Tea have all now suspended trading with Tegat-Toror and called for Chebochok’s removal from the factory board.
Lipton is the largest buyer of tea from the Ainamoi zone, where the factory is based. It wrote to the government earlier this week urging “the relevant authorities to reverse his appointment and take necessary actions to ensure that such cases cannot occur in the future”.
The letter seen by The Grocer read: “Allowing Mr Chebochok, a figure central to serious allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse, to stand for and subsequently win election undermines His Excellency President Dr Ruto’s ambition for Kenyan tea to be recognised worldwide as a mark of quality.
.@IEBCKenya clearing John Chebochok to vie despite the serious allegations highlighted in the BBC expose raises significant questions about the IEBC’s commitment to ensuring that only candidates of integrity are allowed to hold public office.#ChebochokResignNow pic.twitter.com/AHu6OEpaUB
— Coalition Against Sexual Violence (@CoalitionAgSV) July 3, 2024
A Yorkshire Tea spokesperson said: “We’re shocked and deeply concerned that John Chebochok’s candidacy has been allowed to stand and he has been elected as a director for the Ainamoi zone for the Tegat-Toror smallholder tea factory.
“His election constitutes a significant setback in the progress zbeing made to eradicate sexual and gender-based violence in the tea sector.
“We’re working through our networks and expert partners to understand the best approach to stop Mr Chebochok from taking a position of power and to prevent such a situation occurring again.
“This election brings to the fore how much work there is to do to safeguard women and vulnerable people in global agricultural supply chains.”
Read more: Sexual harassment scandal on Kenya tea farms ‘unsurprising’
Chebochok’s election will be followed by a special annual general meeting scheduled to take place later this month, where a vote will be taken by factory shareholders as to whether he will be allowed to stay on the board.
Tegat-Toror also currently holds Rainforest Alliance certification, which is up for renewal on 24 September 2024. The Grocer understands the Rainforest Alliance told the KTDA it was prepared to suspend or cancel the certificate if Chebochok was officially approved, in an emergency meeting on 2 July.
“Like many other actors in the global tea sector, when first alerted to the possibility of Mr Chebochok’s appointment to a position of leadership, the Rainforest Alliance shared its concerns with the IEBC, KTDA, and the Tea Board of Kenya, requesting he be removed from the candidate list”, an RA spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, this did not transpire, and we are now prepared to take appropriate action if Mr Chebochok is approved to take office.”
The KTDA – a privately-owned entity managing over 650,000 smallholder farmers and 71 tea processing factories across 19 counties in Kenya – said in a statement on 3 July that it had “no role in managing the elections” and that it had previously urged the election bodies to “ensure those cleared were not of questionable character and unethical behaviour”.
KTDA POSITION STATEMENT ON THE ELECTION OF JOHN CHEBOCHOK SS A DIRECTOR OF TEGAT TEA FACTORY. pic.twitter.com/W6oNIPF6eM
— KTDALtd (@KTDATea) July 3, 2024
“We call upon all our tea buyers, stakeholders and partners to allow us to work with all the concerned players and authorities to resolve concerns raised regarding his nomination due to the legal and procedural complexities” of the election process, the KTDA added.
“KTDA has a zero-tolerance policy on gender-based violence, sexual harassment, corruption, and any other such unethical behaviour and we condemn such acts that pose a great risk not only to Tegat Tea Factory Company but also to the entire tea sector in Kenya,” it said.
However, the group has been criticised by human & labour rights campaigners for not stepping in earlier. “It was fairly naive for KTDA to imagine that they would get away with such a miscalculation,” said Joseph Kibugu, Africa regional manager at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.
Read more: Tea buyers accused of failing to address human rights abuses
“Whether you are looking at this from either a local or international perspective, it was just about a matter of time. Locally, Kenya has a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights that focuses on among other issues protection of workers from sexual harassment.
“At the international level, the newly passed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directly, though yet to the transposed into law in EU member states, it a wake-up call for global supply chains to be mindful of the human rights and environmental risks along their supply chains otherwise civil liability will soon loom large.
“KTDA should not punish innocent farmers by being ignorant of the changing business landscape. It is increasingly business unusual.”
Other brands that do not source from the Tegat-Toror factory have also been working with local NGOs and tea lobbying groups to raise awareness of sexual exploitation practices in the sector.
That includes Typhoo Tea, which has spoken out against the appointment of Chebochok. “The very fact that someone who has been implicated in sexual harassment within the tea industry has been allowed to run for and be elected to a position of power is something we find deeply disturbing,” said chairman Mike Brehme.
No comments yet