John Chebochok stares at legal hurdle as organisations file case

John Chebochok, the man implicated in a sex-for-work scandal by a report by the BBC, is facing yet another hurdle that threatens to bar him from assuming office as director of one of the smallholder tea factories.

A suit to bar him from assuming office has been filed at the High Court in Kericho.

In the suit, five non-profit-making organisations under the Coalitions of Organisations working on Sexual Violence in Kenya want the court to declare that Chebochok is unfit to hold office and that he is ineligible to hold any public office.

Usikimye CBO, Wangu Kanja Foundation (K) Registered Trustees, Oxfam, The African Gender and Media Initiative Trust Registered Trustees, and Flone Initiative filed the suit.

Usikimye is a community-based organization working towards ending the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), Wangu Kanja Foundation (K) Registered Trustees is a non-profit organization that provides survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) with access to medical, psychological, psychosocial, and legal redress while Flone Initiative is a women-led organization working towards the creation of safe, sustainable and accessible public transportation spaces for women.

Chebochok, Tegat Tea Factory Limited, Kenya Tea Development Agency, Tea Board of Kenya, and Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission have been named respondents.

LSK and Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, among others, are interested parties.

The organizations said the petition concerns the plight of many Kenyan women who were sexually exploited and molested by Chebochok and that the court should declare he was unfit to hold public office.

“On 20th February 2023, BBC News Africa aired a documentary titled "Sex for Work: The True Cost of Our Tea - BBC Africa Eye," which exposed Mr John Chebochok for abusing his power and office. The documentary revealed that he sexually exploited women who worked and those who sought employment at Finlays Company."

"This gross misconduct not only tarnishes the reputation of the tea industry but also inflicts severe harm on the victims, whose wounds remain unhealed, and their cries for justice need to be heard and redressed,” reads the petition in part.

The organizations said there is an ongoing investigation at Kericho Police Station and a case at the HIV Tribunal against him case No HAT 66/E002/2023.

The organizations added that Finlays acknowledged the allegations raised against Chebochok and fired him.

Tegat Tea Factory Limited, Kenya Tea Development Agency, Tea Board of Kenya, and Independence Electoral and Boundaries Commission cleared him to vie despite the allegations raised.

The Coalitions of Organisations working on Sexual Violence said they wrote a complaint letter to the Tea Board of Kenya protesting clearance of Chebochok to vie. They said the Tea Board wrote to IEBC seeking to postpone the declined election request.

“The clearance of John Chebochok to contest for the Director of Tea Factory, Ainamoi Zone, and his election to the said position violates the national values and principles of governance provided for under Article 10 of the Constitution,” read the petition.

As per the petition, Tegat Tea Factory Limited, Kenya Tea Development Agency, Tea Board of Kenya, and IEBC failed to uphold the Constitution in clearing Chebochok to contest for the Directorship position.

The coalition wants the court to declare that Chebochok’s previous conduct violates the Constitution of Kenya and, consequently, is ineligible to contest for any public office and is barred from holding any public office.

The coalition also wants the court declaration that the decision by the various parties to clear him to contest for the Director of Tegat/Toror Tea Factory, Ainamoi Zone, did not adhere to the standards, values, and principles set out in Articles 10(2), 26, 28, and 73 of the Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional, illegal and therefore a nullity.

The court, they said, should also issue an order restraining the swearing of Chebochok into office and that there be fresh elections for the Directorship of Tegat/Toror Tea Factory, Ainamoi Zone, and ensuring that all candidates meet the requirements under Chapter 6 of the Constitution.

They have urged the court to direct the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission, which they said should also be ordered to investigate the systematic issues of sexual exploitation in the Tea Industry as per their mandate under Article 59 of the Constitution of Kenya.

The election of Chebochok as Toror/Tegat Tea factory director sparked a protest with some of the companies and the Law Society of Kenya calling for his immediate resignation.