Kericho, Kenya
This week from 18th – 19th November, 2024 in a 2-day hearing, ISLA acting as advisor to Counsel to advocates for the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN) appeared before the High Court in Kericho, Kenya in Petition E006 of 2024 – Usikimye CBO and 4 Others v John Chebochok and Others.
The Petitioners in this case seek orders barring the nomination and election of the 1st Respondent as a Director in of the Tegat Tea Factory Limited Board of Directors. The Respondents in this case bear a statutory duty of conducting the free and fair nomination and election of officers to serve in the Board of Directors of smallholder tea companies in Kenya. The Petitioners seek to hold the Respondents liable for failing to act with due regard to their duty to ensure all the elected officials are held to a constitutional standard of integrity and leadership as set out in Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010. The Court in the 2-day Hearing listened to oral testimony in open court from the 1st Respondent and cross-examination of the 1st Respondent by the Petitioners and interested parties in the matter.
This case seeks to draw attention to the widescale sexual harassment and sexual violence experienced by women working in tea farms in Kenya. The sexual violence women face on tea farms is widely documented and various interventions have been made in the last decade by various multi-nationals to this effect. However as evidenced by the Petition, the sexual violence against women continues to be the status quo. Specific concern in the case is raised as to the role of local smallholder tea companies, the Kenya Tea Development Agency and the Tea Board of Kenya in the protection of women from violence on tea farms in Kenya. ISLA’s intervention in this case is to highlight the institutionalized, systemic and widespread nature of the violence faced by women by tea farms. Further ISLA seeks to demonstrate the due diligence obligation of the Respondents in protecting women from violence, holding accountable the Respondents for failing to protect women workers in the tea sector and failing to put in place effective measures for the punishment of known perpetrators.
The Hearing of the Respondent’s case will proceed on the 24th, 25th and 26th February, 2025.
The interested party in Court were represented by Nyokabi Njogu and Elsie Milimu who are alumni of ISLA’s Feminist Litigation Network. The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa (ISLA) is acting as advisor to counsel. ISLA’s Feminist Litigation Network (FLN) aims to develop a pool of African feminist strategic litigators. ISLA achieves this by investing in partner organizations and a raft of capacity strengthening activities such as the strategic litigation institute.
End.
Join the conversation on social media by following:
#TheTrueCostofOurTea
#SurvivorsVoicesMatter
#JusticeforSurvivors
#EndVAW
For further enquiries kindly contact:
Achieng Orero
Violence Against Women Lawyer, ISLA
Elsie Milimu
Program Officer, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, KELIN
Case tracker: https://www.kelinkenya.org/tag/e006/
