By a Special Correspondent In Kisumu City
INFORMATION emerging from corporate sources within Kisumu cIty say Raila Odinga’s company, the Spectre international has entered into a secret deal with the Kibios Sugar and Allied Industries and swabbed shares.
The Spectre International is the Odinga’s business flagship, which is currently managing the Kisumu Molasses plant, which is located at Otonglo Market in the outskirt of Kisumu City.
The information about the possible move by the two companies to collaborate and forming a consortium company has been in the public domain ever since last December when Raila made a surprise visit to the Kibos sugar factory, which is located at kibos town . Raila’s visit to the plant was immediately followed by the official tour of the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix koskei
Management of the kibos Sugar Companies are reported to have cooffed out substantial amount of money to the tune of Kshs 80 million, which they gave to the financially strapped Kisumu Molasses plant to enable it to clear the backlog of its workers salaries running to four months in arrears which prompted the stoppage of production at the plant when the workers went on strike and demanded that they be paid their salary in arrears amounting to Kshs 40 million. The Molasses plant had an accumulated unpaid power bill of the same amount.
Before the alleged deal the KPLC, the electricity providing firm had disconnected its power to the plant.
Other sources have confided to us, the the Spectre international and the kibios Sugar company are in the process of forming a consortium company, and once the arrangement is compete, the consortium would make a bid for the ACQUISITION OF THE RUB-DOWN Miwani Sugar mill, which is currently under the official receivership. Miwani together with the Muhoroni Sugar Mill were placed under what the then Minister for Agriclture Chria n Obure described as the “Protective receivership”. The two companies were placed under the joint official receivership management in 2001. But their status has remained unchanged and the same ever since 2001 with no signs in sight as to when the receivership would be lifted. Several firms and groups of official receivership management have been in place ever since, but no solution.
Miwani Mills {1985} together with Nzoia, Chemelil, sonySugar and Muhoroni Sugar Company are the five public owned sugar factories due for privatization.
The Kisumu Molasses of late to have been starved for molasses, a by product of sugar which it needed for making ethanol spirit. This is caused by the fact that most of the sugar factories in Western Kenya have established their own distilleries and as such can no longer adequately supply the Kisumu based plant with sufficient raw materials. The Molasses firm recently said it was exploring the possibility of turning into Sorghum millets for raw material and was heard urging local farmers to grow more millets.
The Raila company suffered a big blow and major set back following the the departure of Dr Evans Odhiambo Kidero from the helm of Mumias Sugar Mill where he was the managing director. It was Kidero who had kept the Kisumu Molasses plant running to its full capacity with the steady supplies of molasses, an arrangement which has since ceased to be in place as the company has already established its own ethanol distilling wing.Kidero is the governor of Nairobi County, the position which he won on an ODM ticket.
On Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries, the sugar processing factory was established without its own nucleus estate farm, and depended entirely the large and small scale sugar cane farmers from the nearby Kano plains, South Nandi and Kericho districts for supplies.
Miwani Sugar Mill, however, has its own nucleus estate farm measuring about 10,000 nacres, which has been laying fallow ever since the company went bust in 2001.
This farm has been the subject of high profile legal tussles in court, which has seen two senior judiciary officials comprising of a resident magistrate and a judge being removed from the bench and loosing their job as a cartel of Indian business men and farmers in Kisumu and Kibos made futile attempt to have the Miwani sugar cane farm grabbed from the backdoor. The exercise has degenerate a lot of controversies even involving some un named LUO MPS and cabinet ministers in the 10th parliament and became the “Milking Cow” in which some of them made of with palatial houses in their rural home corruptively constructed with the materials allegedly donated by unscrupulous Indian business tycoons who made all the tricks in the books in the vain attempt to secure the ownership of the Miwani farm.
The reported deal is said to have received the blessing of the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture Koskei, an a top government officials whose interests in the deal is said to be through proxies.
However, the alleged plan to acquire the Miwani sugar Mills by Raila and business associates is likely to degenerate a lot of controversies because it may earn vehement opposition from the resident of the nearby Kano plains who for a long time have laid the claims that the farm happened to be their ancestral land, and as such they stand to be consulted as stakeholders in any deal and transaction.
Contacted by an SMS message through his mobile phone one of the top managers at Kibos Sugar Compay A senior manager at the Spectre Internationl is Odinga’s younger sister Ruth Adhiambo Oginga who could not be reached for her immediate comment. However a senior manager at the kibis sugar plant a Mr Raju promised that he would get in touch with this writer later as he was busy, but never came back on line.
Meanwhile ,apparently being aware of the secret deal by Raila and his Indians business associates, a section of leaders from the Nyanza sugar belt have raised objection against it and accused the jubilee government of plotting to ground the country’s economy through selling the public owned sugar companies to foreign and local investors without adequately consulting the local stakeholders.
Speaking during a fundraising meeting at the Koru Girls secondary School, which was conducted by the Nairobi governor Dr. Evans Kidero, the leaders accused the Jubilee government of failing to sustain the locaL sugar companies in the country to make them unviable and then privatize by selling them to their foreign and locally based business partners.
Apparently aware of the planned Raila deal with is Indian partners the leaders included the area MP James Onyango koyoo, Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo,Julius Melly {Tinderet} and Senator James IOrengo [Siaya} vowed they would push for the sale of sustainable sugar companies to County governments within which they are situated. Miwani, Muhoroni and Chemelil are all located in the Nyanza sugar belt region of Kisumu County, while SonySugar is situated in Migori County and Nzoia sugar Company is in Bungma County. All are currently experiencing financial constraints due to illegal importation of sugar into the country from foreign sources, which has created a huge stockpiles of unsold made sugar by the facturies worth millions of shillings.
Meanwhile contacted for his comment about the alleged deal with Raila firm, a senior manager at the KibosSugar Company Mr. Raju promise to get in touch with this writer, but never came back, though he had indicated that he would do so. On the side of the Spectre Internatinal, the top manager there is Ms REuth Adhiambo Odinga, the younger sister to Raila who is also the deputy governor of the Kisumu County who could not be traced for her immediate comment
ENDS