Ruto’s Sh56 claim, court battle and fresh protests: Inside Kenya’s tea bonus storm

Ruto’s claim sparked a storm in the tea sector.

This comes as the High Court in Nairobi gave small-scale tea growers in Nyamira and Kisii counties the go-ahead to initiate judicial review proceedings over the 2025/2026 second tea payment, popularly known as the bonus, citing alleged discrimination, irregular financial calculations and violations of the Tea Act, 2021.

At the same time, tea growers in Nandi, Kericho, Bomet and Nakuru counties protested low bonus payments ranging from Sh12.50 to Sh22 per kilogramme, compared with Sh50 paid by factories in the larger Mt Kenya region.

President Ruto announced on Thursday, during a town hall meeting at the ongoing Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Summit in Nairobi, that reforms in the tea sector had raised farmers’ earnings to an average of Sh56 per kilogramme of green leaf across the country.

Source: Nation