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NAIROBI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Kenyan food producer Kakuzi
has appointed a new chairman and admitted a new
director to its board, weeks after it was suspended by British
retailer Tesco.
Kakuzi has chosen Nicholas Ng'ang'a, who retired from a long
stint chairing the board of telecoms operator Safaricom
in July, to lead its board, it said in statement.
He replaces Graham Mclean, who will remain on the board as a
non-executive director.
The board is also setting up an independent human rights
advisory committee, comprised of local and international experts
and representatives of interest groups.
Andrew Ndegwa, a non-executive director of Kakuzi, will sit
on the panel. John Kibunga Kimani, a Kenyan agricultural sector
expert, will also join the board.
Kimani, who grew up on the company's vast estates in central
Kenya, holds about a third of the shares of the company and his
previous campaign to secure a seat on the board had been
rebuffed.
Tesco said on Oct. 11 it had suspended all supplies from the
avocado, macadamia nuts, tea, pineapples and livestock producer,
after reports of alleged human rights abuses by security guards
employed by Kakuzi.
English law firm Leigh Day said in October that 79 Kenyans
had launched a legal claim in the High Court in London against
Camellia Plc for alleged human rights abuses by
security guards employed by Kakuzi, its Kenyan subsidiary.
Kakuzi has said it does not condone any criminal actions and
has asked Kenyan prosecutors to investigate.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Barbara Lewis)
