Union officials petition CS over sugar cane shortage
The main gate to Mumias Sugar Company.
A labour union in Western Kenya has petitioned the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development, Mithika Linturi, to investigate how the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) granted a milling licence to a miller who had not developed sugar cane.
Officials of the Kenya Union of Sugarcane Plantation and Allied Workers (Kuspaw) in Western also want the Kakamega County government to formulate a policy that would bar an investor who does not support cane development in the region from milling.
The unionists want answers as to how the Sarrai Group, which has invested in the management of Mumias Sugar Company's assets, was granted a milling licence when Mumias Sugar had no cane base to crush.
They also want the AFA to publish the cane availability report for Mumias Sugar between the time the Sarrai Group was announced as the new investor and the time they started milling.
Sarrai Group was announced as the new investor of Mumias Sugar on December 22, 2021 and was unveiled at Bukhungu Stadium a week later.
A few months later, Sarrai began producing sugar at Mumias Sugar, despite local expectations that he would prioritise sugar cane development and engage local farmers in sugar cane planting.
The officials claimed that failure to develop sugar cane was tantamount to killing Western's economy, which has been heavily dependent on sugar cane for many years.
The three branch officials - Patrick Mutimba of Mumias Sugar branch (chairman), Jeremiah Akhonya of West Kenya Sugar's Kabras (secretary) and Felix Masoso (Butali branch secretary) - attributed the current shortage of sugarcane to the fact that the Sarrai Group started harvesting cane for milling when they had not invested in cane development.
In a letter to Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa dated August 14, the three revealed that the closure of seven factories in Western has left more than 50,000 people who used to work in the factories jobless.
The factories that have closed in Western are: Nzoia Sugar, Olepito Sugar, West Kenya Sugar, Busia Sugar, Butali Sugar, Mumias Sugar and Naitiri Sugar, which closed last month.
"It is sad that the current sugarcane shortage situation is partly the fault of Mumias Sugar Company, which started operations without a single cane in its nucleus scheme," the letter reads in part.
Mumias Sugar has nearly 20,000 acres of land that was booming with cane before its collapse.
"The current investor (Sarrai Group) in Mumias, after taking over through a lease programme, did not bother to develop the cane, but relied on harvesting cane developed by other millers in the outgrowers' programmes, hence this serious shortage," the letter continues.
"Since agriculture is a devolved function, the county government should come up with a policy that can regulate how an investor should develop sugarcane and bar investors from operating without sugarcane development," reads the letter signed by the three officials.
The unions' letter followed angry farmers from Matungu who also blamed the Sarrai Group for contributing to the shortage of the commodity in the Western Region. The more than 300 farmers who gathered at Namayiakalo backed President William Ruto's view that poaching and harvesting of immature cane had led to the shortage.
"Sarrai started milling six months after it was unveiled in Bukhungu. Sugar cane takes 18 months to grow, what kind of sugar cane did Sarrai Group plant and mature in six months, allowing them to mill for a year?" asked Mr Patrick Mudialo, a farmer.
According to Mr Mudialo, if Sarrai Group had concentrated on sugar cane development, the factories would still be in operation.
"They (Sarrai Group) rushed to start milling what other factories had planted, reaping where they did not sow and the net effect is the closure of all the factories," Mr Mudialo claimed.
Mr Joseph Mulama, another farmer, warned that the habit of factories not developing their cane and supporting farmers, only to emerge and poach, would sink the local sugar sub-sector.
"It is very unfortunate that while other factories are investing massively in cane development and also supporting farmers, another player is watching from the sidelines waiting to poach, adding to the challenges that are plaguing this sector," said Mr Mulama.
The farmers now want each miller to conduct a cane census and submit it to their respective governors so that they know how much has been developed and what percentage of the cane is due for harvest.
Mr Mulama noted that it is through the cane census that the public and the national government will know which millers have enough cane to sustain their factory operations.
"We are on the ground closely monitoring the activities of these factories. We know who is recruiting farmers and who is completely silent on cane development, we are waiting to see if this actor will resume operations with others or not," he added.
The farmers have threatened to march to the AFA offices in protest if they allow a miller who has not developed cane to start operations when the factories resume after four months.
