Farmers splurge sugar millions
What you need to know:
- Commercial sex workers from as far as Kisumu, Kisii and Eldoret have descended on the region, drawn by the scent of the money in circulation and hoping to reap from the growers’ sweat. Some have come from Tarime District in Tanzania.
- Buoyed by the pay-out, the farmers have now asked the government to introduce new cane seeds to boost their harvests and income.
- Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei recently said the government was developing sugarcane varieties that matured early, were disease resistant and had high sucrose content.
Sugarcane farmers in Migori County are painting the town red following a Sh447 million pay-out by Sony Sugar Company.
The growers from Rongo, Uriri, Awendo, Suna East, Suna West and Kuria West constituencies are making merry in hotels and pubs as a result of the “boom”.
Traders have recorded roaring business in the past one week.
“We have confirmed that cane farmers are the ones controlling the economy of this region.
HUSBANDS GONE
“Since they were paid, business has been fantastic,” said Mr Fanuel Onyango, who owns a pub in Migori Town.
Some women said their husbands disappeared from home soon after they received payment from the sugar miller.
Commercial sex workers from as far as Kisumu, Kisii and Eldoret have descended on the region, drawn by the scent of the money in circulation and hoping to reap from the growers’ sweat. Some have come from Tarime District in Tanzania.
But not all farmers who have earned the sugarcane millions are falling for the women’s devious schemes.
“Light-skinned ladies have come here to enjoy part of our money. But we are too clever for them,” said Mr John Omollo, a farmer from Dede area.
One of the women from Tarime told the Nation: “I crossed the border into Migori after reading in the press that the farmers in this area had been paid millions of shillings.”
The women largely idle around popular nightclubs at night, where they wait for their loaded clients.
The Sh447 million was given to the Awendo-based miller by President Uhuru Kenyatta during his recent visit to Migori County to offset debts owed to farmers for their cane deliveries.
The Head of State also gave more than Sh700 million to Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar companies to help them clear farmers’ debts.
Buoyed by the pay-out, the farmers have now asked the government to introduce new cane seeds to boost their harvests and income.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei recently said the government was developing sugarcane varieties that matured early, were disease resistant and had high sucrose content.
