RUNDOWN
• The boy is said to have been playing near the tea farm owned by the James Finlays Tea Company.
• The boy’s clothes were seen around the blades by a supervisor who later discovered the boys chopped off body after going to check.

A nine year old boy dies at Cheptabes Tea estate in Kericho County after being cut to pieces by a tea plucking machine. The boy is said to have been playing near the tea farm owned by the James Finlays Tea Company.

According to Dickson Sang, the secretary of the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU), the boy was playing near the tea plucking machine and was curious a out how the machine operates.

Sang said the boy got inside the tea bushes where the machine was passing through so as to have a glimpse of how the tea harvesting blades work.
In the process the boys head was chopped off and his torso tossed at a distance of almost 100 meters.

The boy’s clothes were seen around the blades by a supervisor who later discovered the boys chopped off body after going to check, said Sang.

He accused the company of using tea plucking machines on the farm without conducting a risk assessments that ensure that such incidents do not occur.

He also raised concerns that even after the accident, normal work went on in the company.

Sang claimed that many accidents have happened since the introduction of the machines on tea farms which he said should be addressed and action taken.

In a statement to the media, James Finlay Company regretted the accident, saying the company will support the family and improve on how the tea plucking operations are done.
They said they were working closely with the investigating authorities and had launched investigations to establish how the accident happened.

The body of the deceased was transferred to the Kericho County Referral Hospital mortuary.

By Irene Mutu