Alleged perpetrator of sexual exploitation elected as KTDA factory director

Tea estate in Kenya. Photo credit: Shutterstock.

On Saturday 25 June, John Chebochok was elected director of Toror Tea Factory, owned by the Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA), in spite of persistent appeals for his removal.

Just last year, Chebochok was featured in BBC’s Africa Eye and Panorama programmes documenting the sexual exploitation of women working in Kenya’s tea industry. The broadcast included detailed testimony of sexual exploitation from women workers, as well as undercover footage implicating Chebochok as a key perpetrator. 

News of his candidacy in KTDA factory elections prompted a furore of appeals to the Kenya Tea Board, Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd. (KTDA) and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), from Kenyan civil society, industry bodies, and ETI in recent weeks. 

Despite this, Chebochok candidacy was upheld, he was allowed to run and he won. Chebochok garnered 396 votes, beating, Stephen Tonui, (359 votes) and Simeon Serem (286 votes). 

ETI joins other stakeholders, including the Coalition Against Sexual Violence in Kenya, in expressing our concern for the outcome of this election and the risk Chebochok's appointment poses for workers and the Kenyan tea brand. 

His appointment undermines the work concerned stakeholders across Kenya’s tea industry have been undertaking to combat the endemic sexual exploitation and gender-based violence faced by too many workers. 

We have witnessed the ongoing unrest in Nairobi, would like to express our concern for anyone affected and hope that calm can be restored quickly. 

ETI has alerted our members to these development and supports efforts by key civil society and industry stakeholders working on these issues in Kenya.

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