Farmers say no to sugar firms merger

A section of sugarcane farmers have threatened to move to court to block a planned merger of three sugar factories in the Nyando sugar belt.

Growers from the Nyando-Kipchoria Valley sugar belt, however, said that this would be the last resort if other resolution mechanisms fail.

Their chairman Charles Atyang’ said that a meeting with Agriculture minister William Ruto to discuss the matter is planned for next week.

He said that if the talks fail to resolve the matter, they would seek a court order blocking the planned move.

A report by Ernst and Young, the transaction advisors for the Kenya Privatisation Commission, proposed a merger of Muhoroni, Miwani and Chemelil factories into a giant Nyando factory.

The proposal that was presented at a stakeholders’ workshop in Kisumu has, however, drawn opposition from farmers.

On Wednesday, Mr Atyang’ said farmers have not been given a hearing in the privatisation process.

He said they have no representation on the committee that is spearheading the process.

Short time

“The committee took a very short time in Nyando. One cannot obtain a comprehensive report from all the three factories in one day,” he said.

One of the farmers Fred Jonam said that the resources required to run the huge Nyando factory were enough to revitalise all the existing plants.

They said that the faster maturing cane varieties being developed by the Kenya Sugar Research Foundation would boost cane production that would sustain all existing factories.

The latest development now threatens the process of privatisation which is supposed to have been concluded well before 2012 when the Comesa safeguards on sugar importation expire.