Cord leaders in Bungoma for sugar rallies

Cord leaders are today on a tour Bungoma county to talk with sugar cane farmers on what ails them. The leaders will engage with the farmers over the problems they face in relation to the current challenges of the sugar industry.

“Led by Raila Odinga they will hold several consultative forums with farmers in the sugar-cane growing region of Western Kenya and to get to listen to their plight,” Philip Etale said.  The ODM director of communications said the rallies will take place at Bungoma Bus Park, Kanduyi Shopping Centre and Bukembe.

Mr Etale said the Uganda-Kenya sugar deal signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta is unacceptable noting that “it is with this reason that the Cord leadership have lined up a series of meetings in Bungoma during the tour”.

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“The consequences of the deal are grave to the country’s sugar cane farmer and the local industry which will effectively collapse and millions of Kenyans lose their livelihoods,” he said. He noted that 50 MPs who are both in the senate and the National Assembly have confirmed their presence during the tour.

Etale said the visit to Kakamega County has been rescheduled and will now be held in two weeks time.  This comes after ODM asked the public to boycott Brookside Dairy milk products in protest to the Kenya-Uganda sugar deal.  This follows a claim by Cord co-principal Moses Wetang’ula that Uhuru “mortgaged” 10 million poor Kenyans in the sugar belt to secure a market for Brookside milk.

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