Lipton CEO Nathalie Roos and Browns Investments Executive Chairman Ishara Nanayakkara sign their partnership agreement.
Kenya Chief Justice Martha Koome will seat a three-judge bench to hear and determine an appeal seeking to stop the sale of Lipton and James Finlay Tea companies to Sri Lanka-based Browns Plantations PLC.
The appeal to halt the sale was certified as urgent.
The Business Standard reported that applicants David Ngasura and 19 others, represented by lawyer Joel Bosek, claim this move aims to defeat the Kipsigis Community's right to property unrightfully obtained by the Talai Removal Ordinance, one of several archival documents that some of the 115,000 members of the Kipsigis community have submitted to the European Court of Human Rights against the UK government as they seek justice for historical land injustices.
Pradeep Uluwaduge, Chairman, Browns Plantations, told STiR that regulators will soon clear the deal, "Everything was quite transparent. The discussions were held with all the relevant parties, even the community leaders. Of course, they have every right to judicial process and to lobby their case, but we are quite optimistic that this is going to go ahead."
In his affidavit, Bosek asserts that the multinational tea firms' actions will deny the Kenyan government revenue through stamp duty and capital gains tax payments.
Bosek claims that the British multinationals are attempting to evade responsibility by engaging in legally questionable land transactions.
"The intended exit by Lipton and James Finlay, and their purported transfer of interests to Browns of Sri Lanka, will deny the Kipsigis and Talai communities their rights to immense profits, land preservation, and land rate collections," says Bosek.
"The companies should not be allowed to introduce new entities who are not party to the ongoing proceedings in the Environment and Land Court," Bosek claims.
Guy Chambers, managing partner and founder of 101 Partners, writes that a “key issue is for LIPTON Teas and Infusions to stand by their commitment to seek free, prior, and informed consent from the local community on the use/transfer of land in any sale.”
“The fundamental question is not whether local community consent is required (it clearly is), but how to gain consent. One way to gain consent is meaningful equity participation by the local community. The Kipsigis Community Clans Organisation, local Cooperatives, and Saccos teamed up with 101 Partners with an offer to acquire the Lipton estate and transfer the business into community ownership with a professional management team. The community equity ownership model aims to resolve the problems of historical colonial injustices once and for all. However, Lipton rejected this approach and signed with Browns,” he writes.
Bosek alleges that the British multinationals need more valid titles for most tea estates, as the original titles have expired.
He argues that approximately 90,000 acres of land were grabbed in 1905, subdivided, and allocated to 18 settlers based on race.
In 1919, the British government appropriated a further 25,000 acres, resulting in the massive eviction of the Kipsigis community east of Kericho Township. Additional evictions in 1951 saw another 10,000 acres taken from the Kimulot area.
"Further acquisitions through forceful means have brought the total land under multinational tea companies to over 220,000 acres, without consultation or compensation to the Kipsigis and Talai communities," Bosek says.
The applicants moved to the Court of Appeal following dissatisfaction with Justice Oscar Angote's April 2023 judgment that quashed the National Land Commission's recommendations, which were set out in a gazette notice dated March 1, 2019.