Josephine Christopher is a senior business journalist for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers
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The move represents a major step in revitalising the region’s tea industry, long hampered by factory closures and financial difficulties
Njombe. The CCM presidential candidate, Samia Suluhu Hassan, announced that the Kenyan-based DL Group, through its local subsidiary, has begun repaying long-overdue debts to farmers and workers.
The move represents a major step in revitalising the region’s tea industry, long hampered by factory closures and financial difficulties.
Located in Njombe’s Lupembe ward, the company has faced criticism for delayed payments to registered smallholder farmers and workers.
Speaking on Friday, September 5, 2025, Ms Hassan said: “We are continuing to attract investment in the tea and avocado industries.”
“One major investor, the Kenyan DL Tea Company, we have sorted out with them and they are securing funds to pay their debts and revive the factory … as we speak today, they have started paying farmers and workers,” stressed President Hassan.
She added that the company will also clear all national security fund debt owed to the workers.
President Hassan also committed to modernising the tea industry, promising new machinery for Luponde and Ikanga tea factories in the region.
Beyond tea, she outlined broader agricultural support, including availability of subsidies, quality seeds, extension officers, and free avocado seedlings and pesticides.
“We are building 50 avocado storage facilities to store produce for up to three months while monitoring global prices, ensuring farmers benefit from favourable market conditions,” she stated.
Infrastructure development was another key focus, with Ms Hassan noting that road networks connecting districts within Njombe and neighbouring regions have increased from 270 km in 2020 to 468 km today.
