Kenya to investigate sexual exploitation on tea plantations by managers

Police in Kenya have been ordered to open an investigation over allegations of sexual abuse at tea plantations which supply some of the biggest British brands.

Kenya’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin M Haji, asked the Inspector General of Police “to undertake comprehensive investigations into the allegations... and the resultant investigation file should be submitted to the office within seven days”.

The sexual abuse allegations were documented in a joint investigation by BBC Africa Eye and BBC Panorama.

The governor of Kenya’s Kericho county, where the plantations are based, has called for the immediate arrest of four tea farm managers alleged to have sexually abused their employees for years, on plantations which supply PG Tips, Lipton and Sainsbury’s Red Label.

More than 70 women told the BBC they had been sexually harassed and abused by their managers at plantations operated, for years, by two British companies, Unilever and James Finlay & Co.

In the UK, Starbucks has suspended purchasing from James Finlay & Co.

In a statement, the world’s largest coffee chain said it was “deeply concerned” and has taken immediate action to suspend purchasing from the company.

Starbucks joins a list of companies in the UK that have said they will take action against the Scottish firm.

James Finlay & Co said it immediately suspended two managers named in the report and it was investigating whether its Kenyan operation had "an endemic issue with sexual violence", the company added.

Unilever said it was "deeply shocked and saddened" by the allegations. The company sold its operation in Kenya while the BBC was secretly filming.

The new owner, Lipton Teas and Infusions, said it had suspended two managers, and had ordered a "full and independent investigation".

Source: BBC