Billionaire brothers Jaswant Singh Rai (left) and Sarbjit Singh Rai of Sarai Group.
The decision to have the Jaswant Singh Rai group take control of the Mumias Sugar Company co-generation plant has revived the bitter feud with his brother Sarbi Singh Rai, with a section of MPs threatening to take the matter to Parliament.
Last week, milling operations at Mumias Sugar came to a standstill after local leaders and farmers stormed the factory in opposition to the takeover of the ethanol distillery and co-generation (co-gen) plants by Rai’s West Kenya Sugar Company.
This is after KCB Bank, which placed the miller in receivership, allowed Jaswant to run the distillery and co-gen plants at the factory.
Notably, the 20-year lease for the Uganda-based conglomerate Sarrai Group excludes assets in the firm’s ethanol and power generation plants, which were in 2021 seized from KCB Group by Ecobank and French development financier Proparco, which are owed Sh2 billion ($17.82 million) and Sh1.9 billion ($16.93 million), respectively.
“West Kenya Sugar is reviving the distillery and co-gen plants at Mumias Sugar (in receivership) in compliance with the directive issued by the President (William Ruto) on January 20, 2025,” reads a letter signed by Patrick Mutuli, legal officer for the receiver manager appointed by KCB.
“On the instructions of the receiver manager, this is to request that you allow them unhindered access to the two plants mentioned above to enable them to complete their assignment,” he added.
In the bidding for the two plants, West Kenya Sugar placed a bid of Sh150 million per month while Sarrai offered Sh20 million.
But following the letter, the two brothers, Jaswant, the owner of West Kenya Sugar, and Sarbi, who manages Mumias, are at odds after the former’s failed attempt to block the latter from taking over the milling giant.
The bitter rivalry has ignited a political battle splitting political leaders in Kakamega County down in the middle, with a section of leaders from the region threatening to take the matter to Parliament.
Auction
“If Rai bought the co-generation through auction or whichever way he bought it, he has a right to co-exist. Sarrai who bought the factory through the lease also has a right to co-exist. There must be a decent business environment to allow for the operations at Mumias to go on uninterrupted,” said Emmanuel Wangwe, the chairperson of the Mediation committee on the Sugar Bill that gave birth to the Sugar Act 2024.
“And now that these two people cannot meet and discuss, it calls for us to use institutions that can bring things to a proper end and one of the institutions is Parliament,” he added.
Mr Wangwe, (Navakholo MP) said in the event that the matter is not resolved, one of the brothers has to step down.
“And if the environment does not allow for co-existence, then one has to step down. The bigger picture of Mumias is milling. It calls for a very sober approach to the issue so that the supportive business supports the bigger business,” he said.
Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa together with ward representatives from Kakamega said that they were aware some politicians had financially been supported by Mumias Sugar to castigate President Ruto and fight the revival of the moribund plants.
According to Mr Echesa, the person who legally acquired the distillery and co-gen should be allowed to operationalise them.
“As we speak, whether we like it or not, the distillery and co-gen are property of West Kenya Sugar under Rai so legally they should run those plants not Sarrai and this is basic information I expected these leaders misusing our youths to demonstrate should be knowing,” he said.
But both Kakamega Governor Fernades Barasa and Senator Bonny Khalwale want Rai out of the co-gen and distillery plants to allow Sarrai Group to manage them.
Mr Barasa strongly opposed plans to allow West Kenya/Kabras Sugar, owned by the Rai Group, to take control of the ethanol and co-gen plants.
“I want to tell our President that he has demonstrated that he has good intentions in reviving our factory by giving us a bonus which we received. The next priority was the ethanol and co-gen plants,” said Mr Barasa. “You can’t remove the person who used to oppose the revival of Mumias and then you expect that Rai will revive ethanol and the co-gen. We want Sarrai to be given a chance to revive the two plants, if we want our factory to move forward.”
Support
Dr Khalwale backed him, saying that Sarrai should be allowed to operate both plants.
“I wrote a soft message to the President. This is no longer a matter to be spoken about and spoken to by pretence. West Kenya and its owner deserve our support in Kakamega County just like Sarrai in Mumias deserves,” said Khalwale. “Mumias Sugar has a 20-year lease with Sarrai. There is no ‘Mumias A’ or ‘Mumias B’. Let Sarrai be allowed the three: the milling plant, ethanol and co-gen.”
The senator claimed that Rai could not prove that he owns the two plants and dismissed Mr Wangwe’s plan to take the matter to Parliament.
Last week, more than 40 members of the Kakamega County Assembly, at a press conference, accused the management of Mumias Sugar of sponsoring a section of their colleagues to lead demonstrations in Mumias.
The leader of minority David Ndakwa said: “It is ironic that even after the management of Mumias Sugar admitted that they rely on bagasse from others to power their boilers, they are misleading people that they can operationalise both distillery and co-gen.”
