President William Ruto has defended his government’s agriculture reforms, saying changes in the sector are beginning to improve farmers’ earnings through lower input costs, digital registration and efforts to eliminate cartels.
Speaking at Kenyoro Market and Nyankororo Primary School grounds in Bonchari Constituency, Kisii County, the President said coffee farmers were now earning up to KSh150 per kilogramme, compared to an average of KSh70 previously.
Ruto also said sugarcane farmers were receiving payment within seven days of delivering their cane and would begin receiving bonuses, while workers in sugar factories were now being paid their salaries monthly.
On the tea sector, the President announced a KSh4.2 billion investment to modernise tea factories, saying the initiative would help improve tea prices and ensure farmers received fair bonus payments.
He identified mismanagement, ageing factory infrastructure and high electricity costs as some of the challenges affecting the tea industry.
Ruto also pledged to sign the proposed Cooperatives Bill, which seeks to strengthen governance and accountability in cooperative societies. The proposed legislation would limit cooperative directors to two terms of three years each.
The President also defended his administration’s investment in education, saying the government had employed 100,000 teachers over the past three years, with a further 20,000 expected to be recruited in December.
He added that the government had constructed 23,000 additional classrooms during the same period.
Ruto made the remarks after launching the construction of the 22-kilometre Kenyoro SDA–Riana Market–Kerina Road, which he said would improve access to markets and boost trade in Bonchari.
He also commissioned Nyankororo Primary School, where 12 classrooms have been constructed with support from Safaricom.
Kisii Governor Simba Arati, who accompanied the President, raised concerns over disparities in tea bonus payments and called for fair representation of farmers from the western tea-growing region in the management of tea factories.
Cabinet Secretaries Opiyo Wandayi and Julius Ogamba, several Members of Parliament and other county leaders attended the event.
