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UK-based Camellia Group has settled legal action with a number of Malawian and Kenyan women over allegations of sexual harassment and serious human rights violations. Camellia has extensive operations across the African continent, producing macadamia, tea and avocados.
“The settlement reached by the parties provides for individual compensation for the plaintiffs, who have claimed damages as victims of human rights violations,” said Daniel Leader, a lawyer for Leigh Day, who brought the case. of Kenya in the High Court of London.
The allegations in Kenya stemmed from abuse committed against local residents by security personnel employed by Kakuzi Plc, a Camellia Group company.
Financial compensation to 85 victims has been agreed, although the amount remains confidential.
Food producer and exporter Kakuzi operates in Murang’a County in Kenya and occupies some 39,300 acres, as RFI previously reported.
The company is a colonial throwback and some 10,000 squatters claim the land where Kakuzi’s farms are located, accusing the company of occupying their ancestral home as land ownership is beyond the reach of many.
Besides the settlement, Kakuzi agreed to put in place a mechanism to deal with any allegations of human rights violations, to build new roads and to employ security guards to give communities better access to amenities and reassure those who use communication channels.
The company also agreed to survey and demarcate some 150 acres of land, previously donated by Kakuzi, to build two community centers and to help establish a sustainable charcoal business.
Revolutionary colonization
Also in another case against Camellia, Leigh Day announced on Sunday that she had settled complaints against the London-listed company over allegations of rape and gender-based violence on Malawi’s tea plantations.
Camellia operates farms in Mulanje and Thyolo districts in Malawi, through a subsidiary called Eastern Produce Malawi.
“I am delighted that we were able to achieve such a revolutionary settlement,” said Sapna Malik, lawyer at Leigh Day, who represented the 36 women.
The settlement includes compensation, as well as initiatives to improve employee safety, training programs and improvements to community facilities.
A regulatory news update on the London Stock Exchange said Camellia had settled Kenya’s claim for more than five million euros and Malawi for two and a half million.
Better working relations
Camellia said settlements were reached in both cases without any acknowledgment of liability, saying that in Malawi the settlement took place at a very early stage, before the court proceedings were served, and thus avoids, especially for women who make these claims, stretch and litigate costly.
The company, which has a market capitalization of nearly 250 million euros, said settling Kenya’s claims would help it work better with locals.
“The settlement aims not only to resolve the claims themselves, but also to help Kakuzi strengthen its relationships with local communities and continue to support the thousands of small farmers who rely on Kakuzi to get their avocados to market,” Camellia said. .
In the same regulatory news update, Camellia said its profits for 2020 will exceed market expectations, reaching € 17 million, with better-than-expected trading in its agricultural division.
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