Politicians are doing a ‘lipyoto’ on sugar saga

At a meeting of newspaper editors some time in 2006, the Standard Group’s Kizito Namulanda told the gathering about a bird called lipyoto. It does not like to see a river or water calm and clean. It will perch on a nearby branch, or from a vantage point above, and observe.

When the river or water is calm and clean, it will dive in swiftly and aggressively. With beak and wing, leg and talon, it will go to work. It will muddy the river; it will create chaos where there was order. That is what thrills, satisfies and makes lipyoto happy.

And that means lipyoto is quite busy; no sooner does the bird leave the water than it is ready to dive in again. And that also means lipyoto does not do the immediate environment any good because its frenetic activities confuse rather than clear matters.

I look at the ongoing controversy over sugar and I liken the politicians to lipyoto. Does Kenya need to import sugar? Yes, it does. This is so because, while we are projected to consume 710,000 tonnes of sugar this year, our factories are projected to produce only 600,000 tonnes.

Now, our politicians know that this deficit is usually bridged through importation. Our politicians also know that there is table sugar on Kenya’s shop shelves that is imported from Egypt, Madagascar, Mauritius, Zambia, Swaziland and Uganda.

We also have sugar from as far afield as South America, Asia, and Europe for industrial — as opposed to table — purposes. What is the difference this time round? Or, put another way, why this brouhaha about the government’s plan to import sugar from Uganda?

The way I understand it, the government is proposing or wants to import more sugar from Uganda than from other member countries of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa).

In return, Kenya will export more dairy products to Uganda.

So, have Nairobi and Kampala signed a deal to this effect? Is it in order for Kenya’s opposition to fear that unscrupulous business people will take advantage of such a pact and flood the local market with cheap sugar, some of it from Latin America?

Twice, Foreign Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has told Kenyans that there was no deal signed in Kampala. On Wednesday, I saw a Ugandan minister on CCTV denying Nairobi and Kampala have entered a sugar deal. But both capitals would appear to agree that some process was initiated. What are the details of this initiative?

ANGRY RETORT

The opposition is perfectly in order to demand that Kenyans be told the details of any deal or initiative involving importation of sugar. It is within its ambit to demand that the government protects Kenya’s ailing sugar industry and embattled sugarcane farmers against uncontrolled importation of sugar.

I was, however, surprised and a tad frightened by President Kenyatta’s angry retort to Mr Raila Odinga’s opposition to the plan to import sugar from Uganda. In his anger, the President appeared to confirm there was indeed a deal. His anger emboldened Mr Odinga, who must have reckoned he had touched a raw nerve.

All the President would have done is to point out that the Sh1 billion bailout of Mumias Sugar and raising of more funds for it through a rights issue, which Parliament has approved, shows the government would not want to see the sugar industry die. Indeed, if there is no deal yet, all the government needed to do was to tell Mr Odinga to hold his horses.

Exit the President and enter Deputy President William Ruto lipyoto-style. Instead of telling Kenyans the government is addressing the high cost of producing sugar in Kenya, the land tenure system and privatisation of sugar mills, for example, what does he do?

Lipyoto-style, he poisons the politics by blaming Mr Odinga for the collapse of Mumias Sugar; lipyoto-style, he muddies the waters by claiming that Mr Odinga fired him from the Grand Coalition Government so that his (Odinga’s) cartels could take over importation of sugar. Lipyoto-style, the two men’s corners join in, going hammer and tongs at each other.

In the on-going lipyoto-style clash, the government and the opposition forget this sobering fact: Sugar stocks as at July 31 stood at 5,958 tonnes, compared with 22,278 tonnes at the same time last year. When Mumias closed for maintenance, the stocks dropped to 5,077 tonnes as at August 18, 2015.

This deficit must be bridged by importation. But, as we import, we must begin to do what Uganda does to keep its sugar cheap.

Opanga is a media consultant; [email protected]