Legal tussle stalls bid to revive Kicomi

The collapsed Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi). Efforts to revive the cotton industry in Kisumu have hit a snag due to wrangles over the ownership of the only ginnery in the region. PHOTO | FILE |

By  Silas Apollo

What you need to know:

  • The county government had planned to repossess and revive all factories that had stalled, but the investor moved to court seeking orders to block the move.
  • Governor Jack Ranguma Wednesday said the sale of Kicomi to the private investor had complicated their efforts to revive the industry.
  • The cotton mill’s collapse was largely blamed on the lifting of price controls, which led to liberalisation of the cotton sub-sector.

Efforts to revive the cotton industry in Kisumu have hit a snag due to wrangles over the ownership of the only ginnery in the region.

The county government is battling with a private investor, who bought Kisumu Cotton Mills (Kicomi).

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was Kicomi’s receiver manager before the investor bought it in 1993.

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Specified timeframe

The county government had planned to repossess and revive all factories that had stalled, but the investor moved to court seeking orders to block the move.

COMPLICATIONS

The county government had hoped to have the factory back to revive the cotton industry in the region.

Governor Jack Ranguma Wednesday said the sale of Kicomi to the private investor had complicated their efforts to revive the industry.

“We were unable to take back the factory in the specified time frame to begin its revival,” Mr Ranguma told the Nation yesterday. “We are facing a legal battle towards...

“The factory must be in our possession before we pump in resources,” Mr Ranguma added.

The governor said that the country government may be forced to shelve plans to revive the factory altogether.

Many residents lost their source of livelihood following the collapse of the cotton industry in the region.

The factory also served other areas such as Busia and Siaya, which grew cotton, but had no ginneries.

“Auctioneers involved in the sale of the mill are still in possession of the legal documents.

“This has made its transfer to the county government hard,” Mr Ranguma said.
The governor added that the technology used in the operations of the firm today requires massive resources.

SMALL-SCALE FARMING

“We are very committed to reviving the sector to provide jobs for our people, a majority of who have abandoned the crop and resorted to small-scale farming,” Mr Ranguma said.

The cotton mill’s collapse was largely blamed on the lifting of price controls, which led to liberalisation of the cotton sub-sector.

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