Stakeholders oppose proposal to merge three sugar millers

A proposal to merge three ailing factories in Nyanza have been opposed by cane farmers from Nyando sugar belt as well as stakeholders. The farmers have vowed to scuttle such a move, saying the drive would lead to further suffering.

According to the farmers, merging the three millers – Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani – would not improve their management given that they have failed to prosper independently and would only complicate matters.

Kenya Sugar cane Growers Association (Kesga) Secretary General Richard Ogendo warned that amalgamating the three would kill the industry in the region.

“Drawing from the experience of Mumias, we have no confidence that coming up with a single entity will work for us when the same has failed and threatens to bring down the entire industry in western Kenya region,” he said.

Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers National Treasurer Stephen Narupa also concurred that running the firms independently has a lot of potential as opposed to merging them.

“It is unfair for the government to consider merging the three major companies in Nyando sugar belt without involving the farmers who are the key stakeholders,” he said during a press conference at a Kisumu hotel.

“The industry is largely made up of small-scale farmers who work hard to ensure that the firms run by providing the key raw materials for the production of the sweetener,” he added.

Local leaders had fronted a memorandum to President Uhuru Kenyatta when he visited Kisumu last month, asking for the three millers to be merged so as to operate as a single profitable entity.

The President is concerned that the millers had consumed Ksh 30 billion in government bail out plans with little turnaround success.