Limuru Tea PLC has appointed Advocate Leila Chebet as Company Secretary from 8 October 2026, two weeks after Janet Akoth Ocholla left the post.
Board chair Dorcas Muli signed the announcement, which the company said it issued under Regulation 89 and Clause 10.1.5 of the Thirteenth Schedule of the Capital Markets (Public Offers, Listings and Disclosures) Regulations, 2023.
The board congratulated Chebet and said it “welcomes her to the company”. Muli has chaired the board since 1 October 2021. She has more than 15 years in audit, compliance and risk management, starting at the Auditor General’s office before moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Who Leila Chebet is
Chebet is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Certified Secretary. Her work covers corporate governance, company secretarial practice, legal advisory, regulatory compliance and board processes. In addition, she also works as a Governance Auditor, Legal Auditor and Trainer of Trainers.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws from Kabarak University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law. A member to the Institute of Certified Secretaries of Kenya (ICS), the Law Society of Kenya and the Institute of Directors (Kenya). She is studying for a Master of Business Administration.
Chebet held legal and company secretarial roles at Platcorp Group. Her duties there covered board papers, resolutions, statutory filings, legal and governance audits, data protection compliance and ESG. She describes her aim as helping organisations “understand why strong governance is a competitive advantage.”
Janet Akoth Ocholla leaves after five months
The board accepted Ocholla’s resignation, effective 24 September 2026. She took the post on 22 April 2026 after Angela Namwakira resigned. The board thanked her for her “dedicated service” and wished her success.
Ocholla holds a Bachelor of Laws from Kenyatta University and is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, a Certified Secretary and a member of the ICS. She previously worked as legal assistant to the company secretary at Sports Kenya and as legal advisor to the board at Resource Oriented Development Initiatives (RODI) Kenya, where she handled governance and statutory compliance.
The post has now changed hands twice since April.
Half year revenue rose and the loss narrowed
Chebet joins as the company reports growth with no profit. Revenue for the six months to 30 June 2026 rose 23 per cent to KSh69.91 million from KSh56.84 million a year earlier, the highest for a first half since 2010. Made tea output rose 14 per cent to 492 tonnes, the highest first half volume on record.
Loss before tax stood at KSh21.14 million, which the company called “a 4.8% improvement compared to the same period in 2025”.
Management said stable tea prices through most of the half supported the result. Prices softened toward the end of June, and rising labour costs added to expenses. Food Business Middle East & Africa reported that the 2022 first half remains the only profitable first half in the period reviewed, and that equity fell 58 per cent to KSh109.17 million from KSh258.63 million in mid 2016.
The 2025 loss widened as auction prices fell
The first half follows a weak 2025. Revenue fell 9 per cent to KSh131.01 million from KSh144 million in 2024, which the company blamed “mainly” on lower Mombasa auction prices and weak global demand. Loss before tax rose to KSh50.02 million from KSh10.63 million.
It was the company’s third consecutive profit warning, citing higher labour costs and weak prices at the Mombasa Tea Auction. Wage costs reached KSh125.1 million in 2024, up 16 per cent, Business Daily reported. The last dividend was KSh1 a share in 2023.
Losses go back further. Khusoko reported a loss before tax of KSh14.2 million for 2021, against KSh7.9 million in 2020.
Mombasa auction prices set the earnings path
Limuru Tea owns 282 hectares near Limuru town. Browns East Africa Plantations manages manufacturing, sales and marketing, and the company’s green leaf goes to the Mabroukie factory, from where most tea is sold for export. Results therefore follow Mombasa auction prices.
Kenyan tea averaged about KSh295 a kilogramme over the first 24 auction sales of 2026, against KSh386 for Rwandan tea, The Star reported. In the sale reported on 29 September, Kenyan tea averaged KSh299.28 and Rwandan tea KSh414.09, according to East African Tea Trade Association managing director George Omuga. Tea Board of Kenya chief executive Willy Mutai says “tea prices are purely based on quality”.
Chebet takes over a board secretariat that has changed hands twice since April, at a company that has grown revenue and narrowed its loss but has not returned to profit.
