Category Archives: Sugar

KENYA: CARTEL AND MANDARINS OF BUSINESS TYCOONS IN AWENDO TOWN ARE WARNED TO STOP FRUSTRATING THE WORK OF THE MP – ELECT FOR THE AREA.

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo Town.

Members of the sugar cane farming fraternity within Awendo cane growing zones have issued a stern warning to a cartel and mandarins with vast economic and business interests in the Awendo-based SonySugar Company Limited to desist from the bad habit of frustrating the work of the newly elected MP for the area.

The farmers through their spokesmen said that the elections are over, the resident of this agriculturally rich area should renew their concerted efforts in growing more cane. This, they said is the only way forward to promote economic activities and poverty eradication in the area.

The farmers were reacting on rumors and speculations, making the round within Awendo Town and its environs, to the effect that unknown persons suspected to be the associates of a cartel and mandarins of big business tycoons within the town have been issuing threats against the life of the newly elected Awendo MP Hon Fred Otieno Kopiyo.

Kopiyo, the former Principal of Gamba High School, which is located about ten kilometers to the west of Awendo town, had won the election against a half a dozen of other contestants on a Ford Kenya ticket.

This was after his victory for the ODM ticket was cancelled by the party headquarters following the intervention of unnamed senior politicians and businessmen in the area, which saw the ODM nomination certificate being handed to the nomination loser one Walter Owino who was the ODM official candidate.

The MP elect beat the latter hands down and other aspirants, and immediately swore to serve the much exploited and marginalized sugar cane farmers in the area to his best.

IN a phone conversation with this writer, Hon Kopiyo said that since the elections were now over the resident should work together in unity of purpose and I a concerted effort to develop the area to the highest level.

The MP – elect extended an olive branch to all those who competed against him, saying there is a room for all to work together for the interests of the residents.”Our common goal should be how quickly we could succeed in eradicating poverty among our people, ”he said.

He said despite of the area producing a lot of sugar cane and other cash crops, the poverty index is the highest

There must be no more witch-hunting, but leaders worth their salt should stand united together and developed the common approach toward the elimination of abject poverty in the area.

Symptoms that there were some people who were working secretly and covertly by placing the barriers before the newly elected MP had emerged during the height of electioneering campaign. One aspirant was allowed to hold public rallies within the Sonysugar company’s compound, while Hon Kopiyo could not even come close to the company estates and talk to the workers. But he said yesterday that he had forgiven the Sonysugar management for that kind of discrimination and was willing to work hand in hand with its managers for the benefits of all.

Another allegation against the SonySugar management was that some of its top managers are working in business partnership with the cartel of the Awendo based tycoons in partnership in the chains of fuel stations operated by the Kenyan Oil Company. “There is nothing wrong in people coming together and forming business partnership, but such partnership should not be operated while based on the malice.”

“People with business interests such as providing services to the SonySugar company or suppliers must desist from exercising undue influence on this public owned company”.said one Tom Okello a cane farmer in Oyani area.

The farmer also asked the Provincial administration and police authorities in Migori County to investigate the alleged threats being issued to the elected individual personalities and ensure that those responsible area brought to book.

Kopiyo, however, denied having received any direct threat for his life from anyone, but have heard the rumors that some people, especially those involved in multi-million shillings businesses with the SonySugar company were not happy with his recent election victory

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Kenya: Fresh mega financial scandal hit the Sonysugar company in Awendo

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

A private security providing firm, which is closely associated with the family of the former ODM Cabinet Minister, is allegedly minting thousands of shillings from the cash-strapped SonySugar Company.

The firm which is called Gillis Security Guard has over 100 security guards, who are protecting the company premises, property and cane farms within Awendo Town and its environs. The sugar firm is coffing out its coffers a cool Kshs 17,000 per head of each guard per month.

However, reports reaching us from various sources in Awendo says, the firm is only paying the guards the peanut of between Kshs 5,000 and Ksha 7,000 while pocketing the rest.

The same sources have told us that

each security dog is minting Kshs 27,000 per month for its maintenance, while the dog’s handlers are taking home just peanuts.

The firm is closely associated by the former Energy Minister George Ochillo-Ayacko,and it was in roaring business during Ayacko tenure as the Energy Minister winning lucrative tenders from nearly all the parastatal organizations under the Eneregy Ministry such as Ken-gen and KPL, up –to-date it is still providing security services to those firms.

Its interest in Awendo zone is under the local manager called John Walter Odhiambo Sirawa,alias John Walter Owino Ogur “Odari”. Who has since declared his interest in contesting the newly created Awendo parliamentary constituency

Awendo constituency is one among the 80 extra parliamentary constituencies which were created by the IEBC and later endorsed by an act of parliament. Its electoral areas are covering several administrative locations which included Sakwa West, Sakwa Central, Sakwa North, Sakwa South and Sakwa East.

Members of the cane farming fraternity are up in arms questioning the exorbitant payment for the security guards from this firm, alleging that its charges are too excessive from the perennially financially ailing sugar millers.

The farmers wants the matter to be investigated by a competent government investigation institution so as to establish how this firm had secured tender to provide the sugar mill with its guards and as to whether there were element of political connotation involved .

It has also been established that the second name of the security company is believed to have been faked. He true and real John Walter Owino Ogur [Hodari} who is ma close cousin of John Walter Sirawa is a deceased person.

Our investigations have revealed that the real Owino Ogur (hodari} was once a to student at the nearby Manyatta Secondary School where he passed his {O} level with flying color, and was later admitted to one of the High Schools to study for his {A} level certificate, but died while in the Form Five. The deceased died around 19887.

The current bearer of the same name John Walter Sirawa is believed to have studied up to upper primary standard seven at a local school called Ombasa Primary School, which is also located in Sakwa West Location and did not go beyond. That.

Sirawa it is being alleged to have fake the deceased academic certificate and used it to secure entry into the police force, but deserted and left the force in huff after the word went round that the force was actively investigating his academic background to escape punishment. He was later employed as a watchman by the Gillies Security Guard.

All the revelation of the startling and shocking information come into the surface after Sirawa who is now the top manager of the security firm guarding the property of the Awendo Sugar miller had declared his interest in contesting the Awendo parliamentary seat.

He is actively campaigning for the seat and is believed to have already deposited substantial amount of money with the ODM headquarters in Nairobi as one of the aspirants vying for the Awendo .parliamentary seat.

The allegations have sparked off the bitter complaints from other aspirants vying for the same seat who have expressed fears that the ODM headquarters could easily pass the applications from one who is armed with fake academic certificates.

The aspirants have called on the ODM to conduct a thorough investigation on all the applications submitted by aspirants vying for the various elective positions within the County governance, national assembly, Sanate and governorship.

The Awendo parliamentary seat has attracted other aspirants who included the former top KRA manager Jude Ayieko, who hails from Sakwa South, the Principal of Gamba high School Fred Otieno Kopiyo, Erick Oyoo, who is an executive with an international NGO Joseph Owuor who is the PA to the Public Service Manager Dalmas Otieno who hails from Central Sakwa, Lameck Okoth from Sakwa East ad Dr. Abwao from Sakwa West

The real bruising election battle is expected to be a two horse race between Eric Oyoo and Fred Kopiyo. Both are university graduate with high profile.

The ODM is the dominant party whose flag bearer is expect to carry the day after its preliminaries, and the electorate have appealed to the party not to allow anybody with fake academic certificate to pass the party’s nomination test and that the academic certificates of the aspirants should be thoroughly scrutinized with double checking’s.

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KENYA: THE INTRODUCTION OF STEVIA, THE SWEETENING PLANT MAY SPELL DOOM TO THE EVER AILING SUGAR INDUSTRY IN KENYA.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kericho Town.

A Malaysia-based firm is reported to have acquired a license to expand stevia cultivation in, giving more farmers an opportunity to trade with the European Union market.

Stevia is a sweetening plant and its introduction into Kenya market as one of the cash crops with agro-based industry would definitely spell doom for the sugar industry. It is used as a sweetens in place of sugar, especially in the cases of patients suffering from acute diabetes.

The National Environment Management Authority {NEMA} and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate {Kephis} have allowed Pure Circle to expand its reach to Narok, Laikipia, Meru, Bungoma and Uasin Gishu Counties.

This news comes in the wake of the revelation that one of the multinational companies operating Kericho County has been carrying out the experiment of stevia cultivation large and commercial scale in areas lie Fort-Tennan, Koru, and Muhoroni for a couple of years and that it is only a matter of time before the breakthrough is made public.

‘After success in growing stevia through numerous small scale and a few commercial farmers in Kericho, Bureti and Bomet. The company is reportedly looking for commercial farmers, agents, companies or investors to partner with in this expansion program, ”Pure Circle Kenya said in a notice recently posted to media houses

The firm’s expansion comes a year after the EU the use of stevia as natural sweetener. Agriculture in Kenya were recently quoted as saying that a crop cleared by regulators may be planted anywhere according to the specifications of the license since the country is not zoned for particular economic activities.

“We have lately thought of regulating introduction of emerging crops, but the policy we have is still in draft form.’ The crops director in the Ministry o Agriculture Johnson Runngu was quoted as having said this.’

Irungu told the Business Daily a publication of the Nation Media Group of newspapers that local farmers have tried with the limited successes to venture into stevia production for export to the US where multinational soft drinks like Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola have for five years used the herb to appeal to health conscious consumers in the West.

A number of consumers in the West have increasingly turned to stevia a natural alternative to sugar, to manage conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

In Kenya, the commercial cultivation of the crop began in 2008 when the Malysia-based firm set u p local subsidiary to take advantage of market opening in the US. Kenya earned USD 50 million from stevia last year.

The new license is expected to spark off competition in land use. The Counties where is set to be introduced are already known for tea, coffee ,sugar cane, tobacco, wheat, barley and maize and dairy farming.

“We are not cuttings and training advising farmers to uproot other crops to plant stevia, but only unused part of their farms, which should not exceed one third of the total farm size ‘ the Pure Circle general manage in Kenya Piryanko Chatterjee..

‘The firm has been providing the new recruits with stevia cuttings and training campaign that has since yield more than 300 farmers-owned nurseries locally. The company has also signed an Kshs 84 million financing deal with two micro-financiers where some 2,200 farmers two year payback, low interest rates and a guarantee that deductions do not exceed 30 per cent of gross revenue.

Under the previous arrangement with the Agricultural Finance Corporation{AFC}to boost the commercial production of the crop, a farmer with half an acre or more was advance Kshs 25,000 for buying fertilizer or dying tables.

Coordinator at the NETWORK for the Ecofarming in Africa [ NECOFA} a community-based organization working 300 stevia farmers in the Rift Valley 4xplains that an acre yields three tones of leaves per year.

With the local price of Khs 100 per kilogram,a farmer gross annual revenue is Kshs 300,000 out of which Kshs.60.000 covers the cost of used and applied farm input.

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Kenya: Local farmers have rejected the Kshs 11 billion or the revival of the collapsed Miwani Sugar Company saying its suspicious and another Anglo Leasing scam

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo.

The deal which was recently entered into between the government an a South African firm for the revival of the closed down Miwani sugar Mills in Nyando district within the County of Kisumu is said by the stakeholders to be suspicious and faulty.

According to members of the cane farmer’s fraternity, the deal is sounding like another Anglo Leasing and Grand Regency Hotel scandals in the offing.

The farmers wants the deal be negotiated afresh and should involved all the stakeholders, including cane farmers within the Miwani zone, out-growers, primary co-operative societies and its terms simplified to the satisfaction of all the stakeholders before its implementation.

The controversial was negotiated and brokered by Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and co-operatives, which is led by the Naivasha MP John Mututho.

A statement put to the news media by the South African Company, which is also said to have a root in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius says in part, ”The revival of Miuwani Sugar Company in Western Kenya inched a step close after a committee of parliament approved the Kshs 11 billion investment plan by a south African-based Eaglefin Structure Finance Mauritius Limited.

The South African company has proposed to give 51 per cent of the revived sugar firm’s shares to cane farmers and out-grower societies got the nod of the Agriculture, Livestock and Co-Operatives parliamentary committee.

‘We can now confirm that we will be able to accommodate out-grower community at 51 per cent shareholding, ‘said the statement issued by the company’s managing director Helgaard Muller.

However, this would require the government to underwrite the farmer’s participation through promissory notes that would help the company raise funds externally.

The Sugar [Amendment0 Act stipulates that cane farmers and out-grower hold 51 per cent stake in all sugar companies which are set to be privatized.

The South African company also wants to be allocated extra land for either purchase or on a long term lease of at least 60 years.

The government of Kenya is undertaking the process of privatization of all state-run sugar millers including Muhoroni, Chemelil ,Sonysugar and Nzoia to raise efficiency ahead of the lapse of Comesa safeguard rules which restrict sugar imports into the country.

According to Eaglefin’s plan sugar cane farmers would not pay directly for the share holding, but would have their dividends used to pay the financiers cover a 10-year period.

The model aims to replicate that in the tea and coffee sectors where growers are allocated shares in new ventures and part of the proceeds used to clear their obligations.

In the Miwani case, however, farmers would get full payment for cane deliveries during the term of the loan, foregoing dividends until the debt is fully settled.

Muller said the company would put in place a private insurance that would guarantee the government and external funders of the discharge of the promissory notes and payment.

The company would put in place a private insurance that would guarantee the government and external funders of the discharge of the promissory notes and payment respectively. The South African government would put in place a private insurance provide commercial underwriting of us as minority shareholders of 49 per cent stake to secure 100 per cent external funding from a senior lender,” said Muller.

The firm is said it had made a commitment to its technology suppliers and ente5ed into fixed contracts to start the construction of the new factory as soon as governmen’s approval is granted.

“We are impressed wit the plan especially the modern technology that will be employed in sugar production said Hon John Mututho after the conclusion of the agreement.

According to the industry players, the deal sounded like that which is not very clear and honest, and need some amount of simplification so that the farmers could understand it. It is normally takes between 15 to 20 year for a newly established sugar mill to make profits worth dividends.

The clause that says the South African firm wants to purchase or lease extra land for 60 years also complicate the whole thing. ”Who will be there after 60 year from now? Asked one farmer in Kibos,adding. “It means by then all the present farmers who are expected to be the shareholders would be dead.

The locals wants the government to off-load its shares at the facility and offer it for outright purchase by a credible private firm with sufficient reputation to generate its own funds without involving the farmers in complicated huge debts..

The common and popular opinion is that the government should advertise all the state-run sugar factories in the local and foreign media so that they could attract bids from straightforward and honest buyers from oversea and locally that will go into the purchasing arrangement I a much more simplified deals which does not put the local farmers in many year of debts slavery.

Miwani Sugar Mill one of the oldest Sugar manufacturing firm was first established by an Australian farmer in the year 1927 It has since then changed hands to the various private and public companies after it went burst following the auctioning of most of its movable properties in 1970s. But about 12 years ago, the government became its minority shareholders with a cartel of local Asian businessmen-um-farmers went in went burst as it because apparent that the firm old not clear it debts to the suppliers, farmers, and the workers.

The receivership was meant to be protective one while its books of accounts were to be adjusted. The official receivers managers, however, have stayed for over 12 year dashing the hope of the revival of the facility. But the local community wants the factory to be disposed off in a transparent manner not through kangaroo deals.

All the previous attempt to offloaded Miwani under its privatization programme were thwarted by the cartel of wealthy local Asians who have had hands in its collapse and who frustrated the effort for its privatization perhaps hoping to have it as scraps and .

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KENYA: ANOTHER HIGH PROFILE ASPIRANT HAS JOINED THE RACE FOR MUHORONI PARLIAMENTARY SEAT THREATENING TO UNSEAT THE EDUCATION ASSISTANT MINISTER PROF AYIECHO OLUENY

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Reports Leo Odera Omolo In Kismu City.

The Muhoroni parliamentary contest in the next general election has received another high profile aspirant whose candidature seemed to have jolted the incumbent mp like thunderbolt.

The new entrant into Muhoroni political derby is Agwenge Mbech, the 41 year-old former IT manager with the BP Shell Oil firm in Houston Texas in the US for many years. He is the holder of a BA and Maters degrees in IT engineering technology majoring in business management discipline.

photo of Mr Agwenge Mbeche who is the latest entrant into contest for the Muhoron parliamentary seat whose incumbent is Prof/ Ayicheo Olueny. The 41 year old IT engineer has lived and worked in the USA for 17 years;

Mbeche who is commonly known in Muhoroni constituency as “Nyarombo Maler’ {meaning the cleanest sacrificing lamp} untainted with any scandals and scams, which have been bedeviling the rich sugar producing constituency one after the other for decades.

Muhoroni constituency is the home of the four white sugar factories in a district within Kisumu County in an area classified as the Nyanza Sugar Belt. Mbeche has lived and worked I the US for close to 17 years during each period of time, he used to return home in Kenya almost every year for a total of 15.He owns a large scale sugar cane in Koru within Muhoroni district where his family lived, though the family is originally hails from Kamagaga sub-clan in the North East Kano location near Ahero Rice Scheme.

What has sent shock-waves to the spine of the other contestants in the same constituency is the fact that Mbeche has been a strong supporter of the ODM in the diaspora, particularly in the US where he is known to have previously hosted the party leader and the Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Amolo Odinga during his numerous tours of the US.

Mbeche is also believed to have been the instrumental tool for the ODM fundraising in the US amongst the Kenyan living there.

Apart fro the incumbent MP Prof Ayiecho Olueny, Mbeche would be facing another equally populist aspirant in the name of the flamboyant Nairobi based businessman James Onyango K’oyoo who according to reports emerging fro the agriculturally rich constituency. This time around K’oyoo is said to have already made major inroad into the area and is expected to give the other aspirants the run for their money.

The soft-spoken and well mannered technocrat is the so of the late Mr Aloys Mbeche Oyuko who had served the City Council of Nairobi as its Deputy Treasurer for many years.

The four sugar milling factories, which re located within the Muhoroni constituency including the Miwani Sugar Mills {which is currently under the official receivership and closed down}. The Muhoroni Sugar Mills Company, which is still in operating, but also has been under the protective joint official receivership management for close to a decade.

The Chemelil Sugar Company, which is reported to be on his death-bed and on the verge of collapsing and could be the next to go burst unless the government through the Kenya Sugar Board come to its rescue.

Speaking during an exclusive, but brief interview with this writer in Kisumu City, Mbeche said that pat of his mission and desired to be the next Muhoron MP is that he wanted to empower both the youth and the women.

Mbeche said he was shocked to learn that despite the Kenyan parliament having discussed and approved the payment of the elderly people, the elders in Muhoron have yet to benefited from such payment. The same parliament has deliberated on payment to the widow whose family were marooned by the scourge of HIV/Aids deaths in the region where the epidemic is so rampant, leaving them to fend for their siblings. The widows in Muhoroni have yet to benefit from the funds, though in other areas have enjoyed he same. All these happening are due to the indebtedness and neglect of the political leadership in the area.

He said the residents of the constituency have quite often been heard saying,”We are faced with leadership crisis cross-cutting many sectors be it in corporate institutions political ,community and even religion .

He went on, “It is widely acknowledged fact that the effectiveness of the institutions of governance depend largely on the said political leadership,’ said Mbeche.

The aspirant said that he believes in good leadership that is influenced by vision, principles, beliefs and deeds as opposed to what “we normally see in our Muhoroni constituency today that a whole baggage of filth from selfishness, dishonesty, intransigence, deception, aloofness to lack ideology, hence political thuggery and vindictiveness sold to the people for a vote.

He went on, “This is what ha become of our good and rich constituency which he people must decide to vote out for progressive change. The result is for everyone to see, increase in poverty in rich constituency, high index of poverty. High index of school drop outs yet we have devolved funds from people’s taxes in the form of CDF and school bursary scheme and increased drop on socio-economic fabric that hold out families together making Muhoroni a poor shadow of itself.”

Mbeche said it is for this reasons why he s offering his candidature for Muhoroni by asking the electorate to bring in the meaningful change, adding that lack of political accountability in the utility of the public resources in Muhoroni constituency has adversely affected the socio-economic development in the area,

The aspirant said this has to increased poverty and entitlement without focus on the needs of the constituents. He said if elected the next MP fore Muhoroni he will be committed to offer the difference of leadership the constituency had been lacking for several decades.

My tenure of office an MP will adhere to fiscal discipline in the utility that greatly include the 18 devolved funds at constituency level. This means therefore that the next elected MP should offer leadership and accountability on;LATIF, CDF, Bursary,Roads Levy Fund, HIV/Aids Fund, Water Fund, Women Fund Youth Fund and man others which currently the public has seen a lot of wastage, ostentatious spending and mismanagement by the officials and the committee members put to facilitate equitable use of the fund.

Mbeche is married with three children. He has produced a wonderful personal manifesto showing how he will tackles the myriads of problems facing Muhoroni district which he said is the bastion of major food production apart from the sugar factories and sugar cane farming. But he then regretted that youth in the area have suffered the worse of unemployment due to mismanagement in the sugar mills.

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KENYA: AWENDO D.C WAS RIGHT WITH CLAIMS OF RAMPANT CANE POACHING AND CUT-THROAT SCRAMBLING FOR RAW MATERIALS BY THE THREE SUGAR MILLS IN THE REGION.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo in Awendo Town.

The Awendo D.C was very right when he made a claim that the Ndhiwa based Sukari Industries was involved in excessive cane poaching from Sony Sugar Company cane growing zones.

The concern of the Awendo D.C. Arthur Mugira is a matter of utmost urgency concern of all the stakeholders in the region because the “poaching of cane has become the source of insecurity in the region.

First of all, it is the sole responsibility of the D.C of a given area of his or her administrative jurisdiction as the chairman of the District Security Committee to ensure that peace and tranquility is prevailing and a matter of paramount importance. And law and order is maintained at all costs.

The D.C. had accused the Ndhiwa based Sukari Industries Limited that the company is poaching and harvesting cane crops from farmers contracted by SonySugar company during night times.

The relevant facts, which must be taken into account in order to crown up this argument , is the fact that the Sukari Industries went to into operations and productions late last year after the completion of its establishment, installations of its crushing machineries, stores and administrative bocks and all other facilities and accessories.

The Mill, which is located near Oria market right on the border of Ndhiwa an Uriri districts has continue harvesting cane and milling despite the fact that it had no nucleus estate farm of its own on which it could grow its own cane for the raw materials and maintained continuous steady supplies for its mill

It is therefore depending entirely on harvesting raw cane crops from out growers inside both Ndhiwa and Awendo, Rongo and Uriri district, which it has no material/financial inputs on, but which were developed with the resources of SonySugar company with impunity.

So far the Sukari Industries has not seen it fit to develop its own cane by way for financing the out growers within its own cane growing zones. And it has continue milling using cane harvested at night from the out growers farms which were developed with funds made available to the farmers through land preparation loans and cane development programs by SonySugar, running into millions of shillings.

Prior to the establishment of the Sukari Industries, the Awendo based SonySugar had contracted close to 27,000 small scale cane farmers within its sugar cane growing zones and similar number of non-contracted farmers. But even these non-contracted out growers farmers had benefited from some kind of farm input from Sony Sugar such a cane seedlings, fertilizers and transportation costs. The only sensible way for the SonySugar to recover its money that it had used in loans to the farmers for the company to be allowed to harvest, crush and sell the made sugar to the consumers. If the same cane is harvested and taken into another mill, which had not played part in its development, then SonySugar would not be in legal position to recover its money through the deductions of the proceeds from the cane bills so that it could replenish its books of accounts and the money could be consider as well as lost.

The argument, therefore require the simplest and most elementary arithmetic. In this context, the concerns expressed by the Awendo D.C. Arthur Mugira are genuine and represented the true picture of the happenings on the ground.

To be more honest, both Sukari Industries and the nearby Trans-Mara Sugar mills were established in total defiance and flagrant violation of the rule and regulations set by the Kenya Sugar Board, which is tasked with the responsibility of regulating the industry in this country. It explicitly stipulates that any investor or investors intending to establish a new white sugar processing mill must ensure that such a factory is established in area which is not less than 40 kilometers apart from the existing sugar mill.

The potential investor is also required to disclose its source of cane supplies to keep the mill running and strictly not to encroach into another mill’s cane growing zone.

Due to allegedly corruptive deals, the two mills were established against the entire existing rule governing the industry and sugar production in this country, and hence the current cut-throat competition in scrambling for raw cane being witnessed in this region.

Mr Lalji Divecha, the general manager of the Sukari Industries must accept these facts as presented above and should not fly out of the truth. His remarks that the D.C.’s complaints were baseless only amounted to “excessive arrogance on his part.”

I have been informed that the KSB is just about to disburse close to Khs 300 million plus to the

Sukari Industries for the company to advance its out growers farmers with advance loan for land preparation, cultivation and development of cane crops in its own zones. I hope the money will be utilized to the letters and that there will be no repetition of the old Madhvani case in Kwale District some years ago. In Kwale, the money which was given to the company as an advance for the resuscitation of the then run-down Ramisi Sugar Company had gone to the dogs an the investors disappeared in the thin air not to be heard off up to-date.

One thing which the Sukari Industries must come out clean is the question of its importation of close to 35 unqualified workers from India and Pakistani, though this is the common practices in this country where the investor happens to be Asians. In all the sugar mills owned by Asians, the indignant Kenyan workers are getting row deals.

Kenyans are only used for the manual work as laborers, whereas all the staff jobs goes to Indian and Pakistanis workers imported from foreign countries. In the case of African workers, they are only engaged as casual workers, and never issued with the letters of employment by the employers. Mandatory deductions such as PAYE, NSSF and NHIF are things of the past. The employees have no workmen’s compensation arrangement.

Tax-evasion is some of the normal features in the sugar mills. Both the Labor Ministry inspectorate teams and the sugar workers unions appeared to have been compromised and only singing and dancing to the tones of the employers, who appeared to have taken the government for ransom immigration ministry include. Most of the Indian and Pakistani workers imported into this country to work in the sugar mills are not sufficiently qualified to hold the jobs they are engaged on.

Whereas the SonySugarhas employed close to 2500 Kenyans in its establishment who are making important contributions to this country’s economy through the mandatory salary deductions for NSSF, NHIF, PAYE and other important national funds and KRA. Moreover, the SonySugar is using its money and grades repairing the roads and building bridges within its sugar cane producing zones, the Sukari Industries and Trans-Mara Sugar Companies are making good use of these roads at the expense of SonySugar.

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Kenya: The relevant ministries should lunch full scale investigation of faulty weighbridges and weighing machines in shops where Kenyan are being fleeced of millions

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City
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PRIOR to Kenya attaining its political independence and thereafter during the post-independence, there used be the department of Weight and Measures within the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The responsibility of this department was to send its highly qualified technicians and staff to carry out regular checks on weighing machine shops butcheries and even in bakeries and confectioneries outlets.

It used to detect the activities of unscrupulous traders and businessmen involved in cheating members of the pubic by selling underweight breads or sugar and meat and even maize-flour meals on sales in shops.

The staff of this department kept the traders on their toes, and those who were caught red-handed in the act of cheating customers while using defective or tempered weighing machines were promptly arraigned in courts and if found guilty heavy penalties and fines were meted out.

The technicians used to make regular to all market places and shopping centers visiting butcheries and all the businesses where weighing machines were kept in use as tools of the trade and thereafter inspecting such machines used to stamp them with the government seal certifying the correctness and validity of such machines to be the correct one.

However, for some unknown reason and for some years now, Kenyans do hear no cases of readers being charged with cheating by way of using tempered with weighing machines. What went wrong? Did this important department ceased from existence?

There is public outcry about the rampant cheating through tempered with weighing machines. It is affecting meat eaters, sugar consumers, wheat flours, baked beads, and even maize flour meals selling in shops appeared to be underweight.

The area which appears to have been totally neglected and the hardest hit being those machines used by meat shops and butcheries. Nearly all the weighing machine are tempered with or the purpose of cheating the customers.

It is even much worse in the sugar sub-sector of the economy. There are reports indicating that sugar cane farmers are losing millions of shillings for their raw materials to the sugar mills for crushing. The deliveries are made via weighbridge, which are allegedly tempered with an have remained un-inspected for years as the farmers continue incurring losses running into millions 0f shillings.

The worse scandals being witnessed n the sugar factories owned by Asian investors and under the top management of expatriate managers recruited from India and Pakistan.

The issue of tempered with weighbridge was detected about 15 years ago by the government auditors sent to the government owned SonySugar Company based at Awendo Town in the Migori County. The external auditing team which was sent to the facility by the department of Inspectorate of parastatals in the Office of the President carried to a thorough forensic audit and discovered that sugar cane farmers within the Awendo cane growing zone had suffered the heaviest losses in term of money which was abut Kshs 210 millions within a period of ten year through the faulty or deliberately tempered with weighbridge.

The team made a confidential report, which was seen by this writer. The company took stern disciplinary action, resulting n several weighbridge clerks being fired while some were prosecuted

The grieved cane farmers, however, were not compensated for the losses incurred, and the majority of them even weren’t told of the scam and remained unaware of it to-date. It later emerged that this was an inside work of some of unpatriotic managers at the facility, some of them have since left the services of the company, especially those who were suspected to have benefited from this scandal.

The scam began immediately after the hired foreign management team led by a British consortium multinational company Booker Tate Agricultural International had left Awendo in huff after the expiry of the their managerial contract.

About three years ago a prominent sugarcane farmer in Nandi South district operating around Miwani Chemelil area drove his own tractor loaded with cane which he had harvested in his own farm. He took the cane one of the sugar factories, which are located within the Nyanza sugar belt region.

The farmer had thought the heavy load of raw cane he was ferrying to the factory could be weighing approximately about ten tones. When he drove his tractor through the weighbridge at the facility he was shocked when he was told the load of cane he was carrying could only measure about seven and half tons.

And not satisfied with what had come out of the weighbridge, the farmer drove his tractor to another nearby next sugar factory. There he was told that his cane had weighed ten ton. After this the farmer had realized that he would have lost two half tons had he delivered his cane to the first mil. This particular incident was widely published by nearly all the local dailies, but such adverse publicity has never deterred the sugar millers who continued with their cheats with impunity.

Sugar mills owned by Asians include Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa district, West Kenya Sugar Company in Kakamega County, Butali in Kakamega County, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries in Kisumu County and Trans-Mara sugar Company in Narok County.

In all the five sugar mils, all senior managerial staff jobs positions are excusively held by Indian and Pakistanis
The issue of the tempered weighbridge at the sugar mills was rekindled last week by the striking cane cutters employed by the Mumias Sugar Company in Western Province.

The chairman of the cane cutters at the Mumias Sugar Company Mr Julius Makanda while making his argument on behalf of the striking cane cutters, was quoted as saying that the workers have rejected the offer of extra 20/-.

He further stated that the employer is currently paying them Kshs 223/ per tone harvested I a day. However, it has been difficult for the cane cutter to hit the target set of 7.5 tones per day because of the weighbridge at the factory had been tempered with.

Such claims as the one made by workers representative is worth investigation by competent team of experts formed by the government’s relevant ministry. Most of the harvesting work at Mumias sugar Company and in the mils are carried out in the farms owed by the small scale out growers who might be losing millions of shillings through the tempered with weighbridges.

It is high time the government take the issue of cane farmers being fleeced of millions of their hard earned money through this kin of shameless scam.

Five sugar mills located at the various locations in Western Kenya are owned by Indian investors. The workers in these facilities are reportedly being exploited to the maximum. They are not issued with the letters of appointment and eve those who have served the mills for over ten year remained on casual master -rolls. Mandatory salary deduction such NSSF or NHIF are things the past.

The Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers appeared to have been compromised or its officials re sleeping on the job. This particular union seemed to have ceased to exist. It has never raised its voice abut hired of foreign worker being recruited from India and Pakistan who have flooded the job market with the sugar industries thereby depriving the indignant Kenyans of the scarce employment opportunities.

The expatriate workers some of who are not even properly qualified are the ones holding important jobs such as account clerks, engineers, mechanics, electrical mechanics, fitters, welders, time-keepers, cane yard clerks, weighbridge clerks.

This is done despite Kenya having trained thousands of workers in these categories even in excess of it is industrial output. Some of the Indians and Pakistanis are even working as tractor driver and cooks and as lowly laced job such as sweepers, office messengers etc.

These unqualified expatiate workers should pack and go home and create job opportunities for hundreds of unemployed Kenya youth shoo-leavers.

The fitters who were temporarily imported into the country for the purpose of helping during the installation of new cane milling machines and have stayed on jobs should be made to vacate and ordered out.

Members of the current parliament representing sugar cane growing regions also stand blamed for not effectively articulating for the farmer problem. The majority of them it is being alleged to have succumbed to mega bribery, which appeared to have put them into total silence.

Rumors are also rampant that some of them MPs have benefited by way of having the materials used in building and construction of their palatial houses in their rural homes were corruptively sourced or supplied by the sugar mills barons to silent them.

The time, therefore is ripe for the electorate in the sugar cane growing regions to the a serious note about the conduct of their MPs ad ensure that such people are voted out during the impeding general election a replaced by energetic and those committed to assist the excessively exploited sugar cane farmers and cane cutters.

Both the immigration and Labor Ministries also stand to be scathingly criticized for not effecting and properly implementing the government laid down policy on the employment of expatriates in this country.

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Kenya: Awendo parliamentary candidate says he will fight for the sugarcane farmers to get better return for their sweat if voted in as the area’s next MP

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Writes Bob Ndira-Uradi In Awendo Town

A Parliamentary aspirant in the newly created Awendo parliamentary electoral constituency has pledged that he would struggle hard to ensure that the much exploited sugar cane farmers get the better return for their crops.

He will work hand in hand with the Provincial Administration and to ensure police authorities in a joint concerted effort to get rid of cattle rustling, thuggery and insecurity in the small farming town of Awendo and it environs..

Joseph Otieno Owuor who is billed to be in the forefront of beating his rivals and a possible favorite of the electorate in the forthcoming contest the in the new constituency which was recently curved out of the old Rongo constituency said sugar cane farmers working within the sugar cane growing zones of the Awendo-based SonySugar company have a bone to chew with the management the facility.

He accused SonySugar for having made the unilateral decision to reducing the cane prices from K.shs 4.800 per ton to Kshs 3,800 per ton arguing this radical reduction would seriously hurt the cane growers economically.

SonySugar management made such drastic decision without consultation with the stakeholders, who is in this context are the cane farmers in the region. The reduction has negative impact on the income of the farmers.

The move is viewed as one way of impoverishing the cane growers, taking into account the current exorbitant prices of farm inputs. The cane growers still faces extra costs, including the costs of harvesting an transportation from the field to the factory which leaves them with only a peanut payment for their cane bills.

Owuor was speaking during an exclusive interview with this writer at his rural home near Dede market in Central Sakwa Location, Awendo district within Migori County. He said poverty index I the area remained high despite of high circulation of money in the areas as a result of sugar cane farming, production of made sugar and its sales by SonySugar, and something must be done to arrest the situation before it got out of hand

Owuor who is currently serving the Minister for public Services Dalmas Otieno as his Personal Assistant {PA} said members of the farming fraternity in the Awendo cane growing zones have a lot of grievances to complaint about, and which must be addressed urgently.

The farmer’s complaints are genuine and need to be addressed, taking into account that farm input such as fertilizers, labor and other overheads

“The costs of harvesting and transportation have also gone up threefold, exposing the cane farmers to a lot of suffering. Some of them could not adequately feed their family and at the some time pay school fees for their school-going children, hence the need for the prices of raw cane to e o the upward trend all the time.,” said Owuor.

Touching on the rate of crime waves in the region Owuor said this has impacted negatively on the business community in Awendo town and traders in the outlaying marketplaces.

The problem, he added, has come about because of the recent influx of so many people into the small farming town of Awendo and its environs. These people have come from all over Nyanza Province and beyond in search of green pasture and business opportunities, but some of them are suspected as having dangerous past criminal records and needed some kind of vetting by the local chiefs and police before they were readily allowed to access rental houses in Awendo town which they are using as hideouts while executing their heinous crimes.

Owwor scathingly criticized Awendo zonal director who represented the zone in the Kenya Sugar Board for working in isolation without effectively engaging the management of the Awendo-based SonySugar Company into a dialogue on various issues and problems affecting the cane farmers.

The KSB director for Awendo zone is Zachariah Okoth Obado who’s working relations with top manger of SonySugar Company is reportedly not very cordial.”The area KSB director is not serving the best interest of the farmers.

Owuor appealed to youth and women to register s voters in their thousands when the exercise started. This, he said, is the only way of ensuring that they voted for the ODM leader Raila Odinga to realize his presidential ambition and also to ensure that the party secure good number of MPs in the next parliament.

He said by registering in large number as voters the residents of Awendo district and Migori County would give the ODM a comfortable victory at the next polls,” The Wananchi must also ensure they enrolled as party paid up members to facilitate their active participation I the day to day activities of ODM in their localities.’

Owuor urged the ODM leadership to soldier on with the votes hunting campaign while ignoring the activities of political turn-coats and party hoppers who have fled fro the party in search of green pasture in other parties hoping to lay their hands in the campaign resources which is said to be in abundance and unlimited supplies plus ill-gotten drugs money included.

Owuor who is facing three other aspirants vying or the same seat is believed to be somehow much experienced in public affairs, having gained a lot of experience during his services with Dalmas Otieno, which has exposed him to access the operations of the government system works, while most of his rivals for the same seat are said to be green horns.

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photo of Joseph Owuor an aspirant for the Awendio parliamentary seat on

Kenya: Sugar cane politics to dominate the electioneering campaign in the newly created Awendo constituency

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Writes Bob Ndira-Uradi in AwendoTown.

The battle line is drawn between the scores of candidates who have set their eyes on the newly created Awendo parliamentary constituency seat in Migori County.

This is one of the 80 extra parliamentary constituencies country-wide which were recently created by the Interim Electoral and Boundary Commission {IEBC} and endorsed by an act of parliament.

The new electoral constituency has already attracted four aspirants who have already declared their intention of vying for the seat.

The newly created constituency w hived out of the old and larger Rongo constituency. It is located in area whose residents represented people of diverse communal, clan and tribal background, making it to be true cosmopolitan constituency in the true sense of the word.

Furthermore, Awendo constituency is arguably the smallest among other parliamentary constituencies in the greater and larger Southern Nyanza region. Its economic mainstay rotate around sugar cane farming and the Awendo-based SONYSUGAR company, a wholly government owned brown sugar manufacturing mill

The newly created Awendo parliamentary era is the smallest constituency I the greater Southern Nyanza region covering only Awendo district, which ha no administrative Division.except Awendo town,

Its area of jurisdiction is covering only for administrative location, namely Sakwa West,Sakwa North, Sakwa North,Sakwa South and Sakwa Central an area in which Awendo town is included.

The inhabitant of this constituency which is a cosmopolitan constituency in the true sense of the word represents people of diverse tribal and communal backgrounds.

Resident of the constituency represents the indigenous Sakwa people, who are occupying most parts of the west and lower parts along the Kuja River, while the inhabitants of the upper parts comprises of Jo-Alego Kogelo, Jochula who migrated from Rusinga Island in Suba region,

There are also non-Luos like the Luhyias, Maragolis, Kisiis,Somalis and immigrants from other major Luo locations like Nyakach, Kachuonyo,Uyoma,Asembo and Kano.

Owing to the areas proximity to the borders, cattle rustling business has refused to go away in this particular district ever since the country attained its political independence. These rustling. It borers the nomadic communities like the Maasais, Kurias who believe in cattle rustling as part of their cultural behaviors. Also the other neighbors are the Kisiis who are relatively much more civilized farmers. Cattle rustling have been a real menace to the residents, taking into account hat rustlers were now using sophisticated modern weapons like guns when executing their heinous crimes, resulting in deaths.

Amongst the individual political personalities who declared their interests in the new seat includes John Otieno Owuor, a Nairobi University graduate, who is currently working as the Personal Asistant[PA} to the Minister for Public Services Dalmas Oieno, who is also the incumbent Rongo MP.

Owuor is considered to be highly experienced in public service because before he joined the staff of the Minister, he was involved in the work with NGO and had initiated development projects of the infrastructure such as Schoos, medicare,women and youth groups.

Owuor is also credited for having been linked to the acquisition of school buses for several secondary shoos in Awendo, one of them being Manyatta Secondary School.

His work with the Minister has brought him close to the electorate in both Rongo and Awendo district and if he is to use his contacts with the voters, he will be advantaged over his rivals.

Another aspirant is Jude Michael Ayieko a former senior official with KRA who resigned his lucrative job with the government in order to contest the Awendo seat. He hails from near Pe-Hill Secondary School in Sakwa East Location.

Also in the race is the Principal of Gamba High School in Sakwa West Fred Otieno Kopiyo who will also square it up with Eric Oyoo who hails from Sakwa West and currently working it an NGO in Nairobi.

The former MP for Rongo George Ochillo-Ayacko who was expected to give the new entrants a run for their money is reported not to be in the race and that he has shifted his interests elsewhere, though he has yet to make his stands known to the electorate.

The creation of the Awendo constituency has now brought to abrupt end the bloody and violent campaign pitting the supporters of the two political giants in the region.

The two are now placed in different constit8encies with Dalmas Otieno remaining in the old Rongo constituency while Ochillo-Ayacko is in Awendo constituency. The list of aspirants may not be the final one, because the rumor making the round in Awendo and its environs say more aspirants are expected to join the race within the next few weeks.

The prices of raw cane is likely to dominate the campaign with each of the aspirants articulating how he will have the farmers in the region served better. There are numerous complaints against the management of the Awendo based SONYSUGAR with allegations of poor relations with the cane farmers.

The company, which is wholly owned by the government has recently unilaterally reduced the cane price from Kshs 4,800 per ton fro Kshs 3,800 per ton The farmers are complaining that they were not involved in the decision.

The other issues include the on-going cut-throat competition and scrambling over the scarce raw cane between the SONYSUGAR and two newly established sugar mills. On of the new mills is located near Oria market on the Ndhiwa side of River Kuja. The second one is Sukari Industries are reportedly giving SONYSUGAR hard times by way of unlawfully harvesting the cane which were developed with SONYSUGAR money..

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KENYA: THE KAKAMEGA MILESTONE COURT RULING ON SUGAR HARVESTING ZONE DISPUTES WILL BRING SANITY AMONG THE VIOLENTLY SCRAMBLING MILLERS OVER THE SCARCE RAW CANE

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From: Arrum Tidi
News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City

The High Court judgment in which the West Kenya Sugar Company on Tuesday this week lost in the round one the battle to control sugar cane crops harvesting in Busia County’s cane growing zone to the Mumias Sugar Company is expected to bring sanity within the sugar industry where millers have been reportedly violently scrambling and poaching for the scarce raw cane.

The High Court Judge within Mr Justice Said Chitambwe sitting in Kakamega Court dismissed with costs an application filed by West Kenya Sugar Company that sought to overturn the temporary orders obtained by Mumias Sugar Company.

Mumias Sugar Company got the injunction barring West Kenya Sugar Company from harvesting and ferrying sugar cane fro Busia cane growing zone on September 11,2012.

The orders also restrained West Kenya from operating a weigh-bridge within Mumias sugar belt, Busia zone is within Mumias sugar belt.

West Kenya which is located within Kakamega County had filed objections to the orders by Mumias Sugar.

There has been a spirited battle and scrambles for cane crops in the region following acute shortage of the same in the area.

These battles have led to loss of lives and destruction of properties. Tractors found conveying sugar cane to either factory have been set ablaze and crew savagely beaten up by hired goons and the millers engaged in war of attrition over raw materials.

The same problems have occurred in other sugar cane growing regions in both Nyanza and Western Provinces. In some places it has been a total war as the competing miller deployed short-cut methods to undercut their competitors.

The worse hit is the Awendo-based SONYSUGAR company following the recent commissioning of two newly established sugar mills, one of them the Sukari Industries which is situated at Oria Market right on the boundaries of Ndhiwa and Uriri districts.

THE new sugar mill, which is a medium size mill with low production capacity has no nucleus estate farm of its own on which to grow cane and ensure it is a float in business throughout the year. This mill depended entirely cane crops “poaching” cane from sonysugar growing zones in the region.

The Sonysugar which has been operation for over 30 year has its own nucleus estate farm of over 6000 hectares. It has contracted close to 27,000 out growers cane farmers in several districts in the region which included Migori, Awendo, Rongo, Gucha, Uriri, Trans-Mara West, Kuria, and Homa-Bay. It has similar number of non-contracted cane farmers and almost the same number of non-contracted farmers. And sonysugar has also spent millions in shillings in financing its out grower farmers in land preparation, supplies of cane seedlings, cultivation and other good cane husbandry supports.

The Sukari Industries, however, has yet to envisage immediate plan of supporting out grower cane farmer in its Ndhiwa district zone in order to alleviate its perennial raw material supplies problem, and it appears as if the war of attrition and scrambling or the scarce cane would continue for some unforeseeable future.

Moreover the Sukari Industries sugar mill was established close to SonySugar company in flagrant and total defiance of the rules and regulation set up by he Kenya Sugar Board, which stipulates that anyone intending o invest in new sugar factory should ensure that the new facility is set up in a distance of not less than 40 kilometers away from the existing sugar

Owing to the unconfirmed allegation members of the KSB corruptively and hurriedly approved and licensed the new factory against the board’s own laid down rules of cane growing zoning, leaving the mills to fend for themselves hence the source of discontent and rampant poaching of raw cane.

The police and the provincial administration in Migori County appeared to be of no much help, perhaps having been compromised, taking into account that the investors in the to new mills are Asian tycoons.

The distance between SonySugar at the Trans-Mara Sugar Company, which is also owed by Asian investors is about 15 kilometers. Similarly this mill also has no nucleus estate farm of its own and depended entirely on crops planted and developed with SonySugar money and has been harvesting these cane with impunity, depriving the Awendo Mill of its cash which it has used in financing the cane development in the farms allocated along the Migori Narok Counties boundaries.

It is high time the government get involved practically by forcing official demarcation exercises and allocating each sugar mill its own clearly marked cane growing zone in order to bring to an end harvesting zones for each sugar factory.

In the Nyanza sugar belt covering Kisumu and Nyando districts where four sugar mills are operating, the situation is no different fro that facing SonySugar in Southern Nyanza.

The four sugar mills included Miwani Sugar Mills, Kibos Sugar and Allie Industries at Kibos, Chemelil Sugar Company at Chemelil and Muhoroni Sugar Mills based at Muhoroni town.

Out of the four mills, Miwani and Muhoroni is operational, but in a small scale the two facilities went burst ten years ago due to their inability to servicing debs running into billion of shillings Miwani has remained closed while Muhoroni is still operating in a small scale under the official receivership management.

With Chemelil company,which used to be the center of excellence in the sugar industry sub-sector on its death bed, the prospect of Kenya experiencing acute shortage of sugar in the near future cannot be ruled out.

The problem at Chemelil has just came about as the result of the prevalent cut-throat competition over raw sugar cane.The company has been crushing cane below its capacities for close to one year forcing the mill to be operational only thrice or twice a week.

It all started when the Kenya sugar Board approved and licensed the Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries at Kibos near Kisumu without properly assessing it source of cane supplies. The Mill has since then constructed a weigh-bridge at Awasi where it is receiving cane destined for Chemelil and Muhoroni Sugar Mills, which is only eight kilometers away from Awasi.The Awasi weigh-bridge has also the negative effect on the cane supplies to Muhoroni Sugar.

The Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries has also established another weigh-bridge at Chepsweta or near Kibigori where it is also receiving raw cane from the Nandi Escarpment which were previously going to Chemelil and those coming from Miwni zone, though Miwani is long close down, the cut-throat exercise is not good for long term planning or the continuation of cane supplies to the mills within Nyanza sugar belt the mills were only allowed to undercut one another.

The government must come out with a clear-cut sorts of policy guideline to impose sanity in the important sugar industry on which millions of Kenyans depended on fr their livelihood.

Claims, speculations and rumors are also abound with allegation of poor weighing system at the sugar mills operated by Asian investors where unsuspecting and illiterate and poor African farmers are allegedly losing millions on technically faulty weigh and measures at the factories weighbridges.

Members of the sugar cane farming fraternity are placing the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the elected members of Parliament [MPS} representing sugar cane growing constituencies for the inability to articulating the farmers problems. Some of the MP it is being alleged have joined the league with Asian millers and investors who are exploiting the cane farmers to the maximum.

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KENYA: REPORTS SAY CHEMELIL SUGAR COMPANY IS INSOLVENT AND IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF WEEKS AND DAYS BEFORE THE FIRM IS PLACED UNDER THE OFFICIAL RECEIVERSHIP

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

Chemelil sugar company in Muhoroni district within the in Kisumu County within the Nyanza sugar belt is on the verge of total collapse.

It has yet to pay its workers of their salaries for the month of August, 2012, the company owed its suppliers millions of shillings of unpaid bills. Only unionized workers were paid something a small fraction of their salaries for the month of August on fear that they could go on strike and cause havoc with the company’s properties.

Management staff and other workers received Kshs 1,500 each to keep them a float. The company has yet to pay the cane suppliers ever since April this year. The same is with the transporters.

An insider told this writer that Chemelil Sugar owed the Kenya Revenue Authority {KRA} a colossal amount of money estimated to be in excess of Kshs 600 million. It has yet to remit the power bill which is also said to be running into millions shillings.

A private firm contracted for cleaning the company’s compound ad factory is owed Kshs 50, million in arrears and is said to be just about to walk out of the firm.

Chemelil Sugar Company, which for many years was known to be the center of excellence and a roll model in the ailing sugar industry has sunk went down on its knees to an extent that cane farmers within its sugar cane growing zone have now boycotted delivery of raw material at its factory.

They prefer making direct delivery of their cane crops to the neighboring Muhoroni Sugar Mills and Kibos Sugar and Allied industries in Kibos near Kisumu.

A member of the board of director of the Chemelil Sugar Company, a wholly-government owned firm who had requested that his name should not be mentioned said explicitly that he company went burst several months ago, but it is only waiting for the arrival of the official receivers.

The company’s cane yard is empty with not even one single tractor queuing for the delivery space as it used to be before. The situation was described by one disappointed cane farmer as the most pathetic he has ever come across ever since the company inception in 1966.

Other reports say that the Kenya Sugar Board, which is the regulating authority in the sugar sub-sector of the economy is just about to disburse a colossal amount of money estimated at the tune of Kshs 470 million to the management of the Chemelil Sugar Company for its annual mechanical maintenance and further Kshs70 million to offset its payment arrears to the cane suppliers.

Members of the farming fraternity, however, have appealed to the government and the KSB not to disburse cash money to management of the Chemelil Sugar company but instead to hire and contract consultants and experts to carry out the annual maintenance work and pay the consultants their money directly fearing the same could be vandalized and embezzled the same way the firms coffers has been drained dry.

The KSB is as blamed over its choice and appointment of the managers in the public owned firms in the sugar industry. The farmers have also called for the Ministry of Agriculture to appoint external auditors to carry out forensic auditing of the company books of account.

The farmers have also appealed to the head of the inspectorate of the pubic corporation together with the Head of Public and Secretary to the cabinet to move with speed to ensure sanity is restored within the management of Chemelil Sugar Company.

As the company’s sugar production come to halt, the lives of close to 20,000 contracted and non-contracted farmers operating within the company’s sugar cane growing zones are doomed and facing a total ruins.

Although the three weeks teachers strike has come to an end, and pupils are back to school, the farming fraternity within Chemelil zone are facing myriad of problem not to be able to pay fees or their school going children having gone for close to five calendar months without receiving their cane bills.

Interviewed farmers have demanded for the immediate dissolution of the board of directors at the Chemelil Sugar Company and its replacement with qualified individuals who could turn the company around.

The popular rumors making the round within the industry is that some of the KDB directors need to have their activities put on heck. Some of the board directors are said to be in hurry of getting rich quickly and cold be collaborating with top managers in vandalizing the resources within the sugar industry. A contingent machinery of vetting the appointment of KSB directors should be done on an equal term to those of managing directors so as to avoid embarrassing situation similar to the on-going situation at Chemelil sugar company.

The closing don o this important facility would see the sharp rising in the poverty index within the Nyando,South Nandi, Lower Belgut and Muhoroni districts. A visit at the usually busy Chemelil Market at the round-about trading center witnessed those previously heavily stocked shops and stores having empty shelves. Similar phenomenon is being experienced in Kopere, Awasi and even far field at Ahero. If Chemelil goes into official receivership the number of sugar miller in official receiver would be increased to four. Both Miwani Sugar Mills are currently under the official receivership with Miwani having been closed down ten years ago.

The Managing Director of the Chemelil sugar chares Owelle could not be reached for his immediate his immediate comment the chair person of the board of director who is understood to e a lady-lawyer.

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KENYA: THE CURRENT DISTURBING DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT ON FORMULATION OF NEW POLICY ON THE SUGAR INDUSTRY MIGHT NOT OFFER THE LASTING SOLUTION,

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Business News Analysis By leo Odera Omolo

There are disturbing actions and events in the current debate in parliament that point to a business as usual approach to formulating Sugar Industry policy and reviewing policy gaps which have constrained the industry.

For a start, one hopes that the debate is informed by the provisions in the new constitution that transferred responsibility for Agricultural production, processing and marketing to county governments.

Secondly, the current review and consolidation of agricultural sector agencies in research, marketing and regulation as approved by cabinet and pending in parliament should inform the debate on the bill.

The recent events and performance of the industry exemplified by violence in Western sugar belt is a testimony to the failure of the privatization model in the sugar sector. Indeed Mumias the test case for privatization of a public owned sugar is barely surviving, devoting too much energy fighting off leeches stealing its cane investment in name of private sugar mills.

The industry is now in private hands with 6 private mills of Butali, Mumias, West Kenya, Kibos, Sukari and Transmara against 3 public owned mills of Nzoia, Chemelil and Sonysugar yet industry insiders and Kenya sugar board(KSB) statistics depict the public owned mills as more efficient and only units having invested in sugarcane growing.

New private mills are of economically un sustainable sizes of below are all rated below 2000 tons per day. The government was duped in allowing second hand equipment from shut down mills dismantled and relocated to Kenya yet exploiting the tax credit on investments.

This explains the reason behind the engagement of private mills such as Kibos, Sukari, Transmara, Butali in cane poaching as a survival strategy yet calling themselves investors! West Kenya mill never invested in sugar cane hence its resorting to cane poaching on entry of Butali!
The industry institutional framework is weak and support for R & D is poor. KSB spends over 33% of levy on sugar on administration and gives a mealy sum to KESREF for R & D. The institutions KESMA and KESGA representing millers and farmers respectively are moribund! Its a fallacy to assume all is well with respect to farmer representation in KSB.

The present duplicity in farmer representation in KSB through KESGA in sugarcane pricing and by directly elected farmer directors has caused governance accountability challenges and has been exploited by politicians. Farmers lack cooperatives to mobilize resources and collectively bargain in the market with millers.

All out grower companies formed on instigation of previous KSB management under Mr Chahonyo have all collapsed or are in receivership with hugh debts owed to KSB.

From the foregoing one can see that the debate in parliament is largely uninformed and has no input from a wider stake holder framework.

Its therefore logical to conclude that the outcome by way of a revised Sugar act will not solve the myriad industry challenges. Its a pity the farmers lack an impartial voice hence their interests will be auctioned by partisan interests!

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Kenya: No end to rogue contractors, as sugarcane farmers cry foul.

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By Reporter

Despite the recent signing into law, the National Construction Authority Act, by the president that seeks to regulate the building and construction industry by setting up the National Construction agency (NCA) to oversee the sector-charged with registering and accrediting contractors and regulating their activities, the move still appears to be an elusive task and far from being realized.

Sugarcane growers and residents of Kakamega County are up in arms over a Kisumu based contractor for having allegedly done shoddy work: for the construction of culverts which was meant to serve and facilitate cane farmers in accessing their huge chunks of farms, during the period of cultivation, harvesting and transportation of their canes.

Maurice Omondi of GOGNI RAJOPE group of companies headquartered in the lakeside city of Kisumu, and with branches in other major towns, who “won” the tender last year April through one of their sister companies,WADICH construction and engineering company, was tasked with the building of culverts of KWABA area to the tune of over Kshs 4.5 million.

And it was among the nine projects which also included the building of bridges and access roads in the western sugar belt funded by National Sugar Development Fund (NSDF), through Kenya Sugar Board (KSB).The projects kicked off June, same year.

Speaking to a legion of reporters, the angered farmers, who have vowed to take to the streets to protest against the contractor for non performance which has hampered their farming activities thus leading to hefty financial loses, are now questioning the criteria that was applied that earned Omondi and its company the tender and yet he doesn’t harbour the requisite technical prowess and monetary capacity to do a work, of such magnitude.

Threatening unspecified legal action if the relevant authorities fail to crack the whip, the fire spitting farmers now wants the NCA as an authority which is also tasked with promoting professionalism by ensuring that only trained contractors, construction workers, and site supervisors are registered, to invoke its act and blacklist him, saying the contractor is associated with a spate of dubious work in different parts of the country “We will soon move to court if the work is not redone and completed to our satisfaction” said the relentless farmers.

Ahead of court action, the enraged farmers and other stakeholders in the industry, are reportedly planning to lead a high-powered delegation to the ministries of agriculture and roads to petition Hon. Sally Kosgey and Franklin Bett respectively, to address their myriad grievances over the besieged contractor whom they say has been, not only eluding them, but also evading the taxman over alleged non-remittances of taxes amounting to millions of shillings, running to years.

In an earlier interview with some professional contractors, who are registered engineers and also members of Architectural Association of Kenya, read from the same script with the farmers and expressed their disgruntlement with the contractor whom they strongly loathed his works and behaviours saying that he is a perennial disgrace to their fraternity, worth deregistration, since he rarely honours his contractual obligations “we strongly concur with the farmers’ move, its long overdue” they said, demanding for thorough audit, into their umbrella body to weed out the quacks.

The Act states that, a person shall not carry out the duties of a contractor unless that person is registered by the board to be established under new law. In case of a firm registration can only be given if at least one of the partners or directors possesses the qualifications, technical skills, or experience prescribed by the board. The Act further states that any person who decides to operate as a contractor without registration “commits an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh 1million”, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.

Any contractor too found guilty of unprofessional misconduct will also face the same consequences. Failure also by the contractor to discharge duties, responsibilities and obligations shall have his or her names expunged from the register and shall not be registered afresh under any other new name.

Sources privy to the mother company, Gogni Rajope’ mode of operations, which also owns and runs CEABUD, RADO and HANRAJ among other chains of companies, revealed that procurement procedures were flouted with impunity during the tendering and subsequent award of the tender (read single sourcing).

That these outfits will hardly win any tender fairly and they ever, allegedly thrive on greasing the hands of the prospective procurement officials and tender board committees to land cream tenders, both locally and internationally. The art, which they say, have been indisputably perfected, per- excellence.

And in a bid to execute their well orchestrated clandestine deals in advance, they book state-of-the-art hotels, far away from the hawkeyed interested parties for the officials to put up, where the cartel covertly converges with them over special finger- licking foodstuff, to strategize on how to canvass, compromise and bag the contracts-pre or post the advertisement of the tender.

At the centre stage of this racket, that allegedly deprives other competent firms’ contracts unjustifiably, is the notorious Omondi of WADICH Company in question, who is assigned with nosing for the tenders, flapping and hawking the profiles of these companies.

And to achieve this effectively, all their bids, will always find their ways into the tender box, after the advertisements “to compete” for the awards, alongside other unsuspecting competent bidders (contractors), who only bided for one.

Something, that the contractor, when approached for verification, vehemently denied and instead advised this writer to go ahead and publish the story: “ You can go and write whatever you want I don’t bother whether you are president or prime minister” He yelled, waving cigarette stick and directing smoke, to a battery of journalists.

And a spot check at the site of the work, confirms some of the allegations since the workmanship is very poor, yet to be fully done and it’s past the stipulated timeline, with the areas already “completed” dilapidating at alarming rate “He is ever drunk and rough even to us whenever we dare raise our concern over some poorly done areas” regretted some dozen of the hapless construction workers, glued at the site waiting for their meager dues, adding that he hardly pays.

Independent sources from KSB reliably averred that the contractor, out of the total fee earmarked for the tender, has been paid a whooping ksh 3.5million in two phases, with the deficit being over ksh 1million and yet the work done so far is not reflective.

Owing to the unfolding dossier unmasking these outfits underworld activities, which flies in the face of the procurement rules, regulations and procedures, its also worth noting that the quintet companies which are now under spotlight, are currently engaged in a string of works across the country, further raising eyebrows whether they were awarded fairly or not.

According to knowledgeable inner sources, all the companies are the brainchild of one of the topnotch engineer who is said to be the proprietor and elder brother to the alleged cowboy contractor and, with a well networked syndicate buttressing across the boarders, hence according credence as to why they recently clinched a lucrative tender in southern Sudan for the construction of the road, among other plum jobs, to the chagrin of other potential lowest bidders.

The farmers move comes hot on the heels of the recent remaks, in some cross-section of the press, by the minister of public works Hon. Chris Obure that the NCA law will be implemented to the letter and, further read the riot act to the rogue contractors that the law will be slapped unto them, since their days are numbered.

The authority is also charged with, among other things, researching on any matter relating to the construction industry, promoting quality assurance as well as encouraging standardization and improvement of construction techniques and materials. It will also develop and publish a code of conduct for the industry.

Kenya: Tension is building up between three sugar mills in western Kenya following alarming theft of the scarce raw material for processing

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Special Report By Leo Odera Omolo In Awendo Town.

Tension is building up between the three white sugar factories located in Southern Nyanza following the reported rampant theft the scarce raw materials, namely harvested cane in the field by seemingly well organized cartel unscrupulous trader turned criminals.

Tension is between the well-and long established Awendo-based SonySugar Company, the newly established Sukari Industries based in Ndhiwa district, and also the recently commissioned Trans-Mara Sugar Company, based in Tans-Mara district in the South Rift region of the Rift Valley Province.

What had started as simple cane poaching between the three sugar mills has since developed to a full-scale war and calls for the government urgent intervention to bring the confrontation to an immediate end? It is generally feared that if the situation is allowed to continue as it is today, Kenya may soon experience another acute shortage of sugar.

The situation is so pathetic to an extent that it now threatening to disrupt peace as it has became a source of insecurity in the five administrative districts of Awendo, Migori,Rongo, Nhiwa and Trans-Mara.

Before the two new white sugar factories one in Ndhiwa and the other one in Trans-Mara, the long established SonySugar Company based at Awendo town had contacted thousands of out-grower cane farmers in close to seven distrcts. The out-grower farmers contracted by SonySugar are estimated to be numbering 27,000 with close to similar numbers of un-contracted cane farmers.

The company classified and clearly demarcated cane growing zones had extended to the neighboring districts of Gucha, Ndhiwa, Rongo, Trans-Mara, Migori, Kuria, Awendo and Uriri.

The planners at the Ministries of Agriculture and Planning also stand blamed fort having strictly adhered to the Kenya Sugar Board’s regulations, which stipulates that investors intending to construct a new sugar mill, must ensure that it is constructed at a distant not less than 40 kilometers from the existing sugar manufacturing plant.

In the case of Sukari Limited , which is located at Oria market on the border Nnhiwa and Urirri districts, it is only a distant of 10 kilometers , In such a short distances, the planners at the two ministries could have foresaw that the trouble where the two mills would scrambles for raw material was abound to occurred.

In the case of Trans-Mara Sugar Company, which is also located close to the Awedo-Migori and Kuria East district borders is only a stance of 15 kilometers from the Awendo-based SonySugar Company Limited Just.

It is being alleged that the two new sugar factories were hurriedly licensed by the KSB which is the regulating body in the sugar industries following heavy pressure mounted by corrupted KSB directors. Who are suspected to have been compromised and manipulated by the investors and made to ignore the existing rules governing the establishment of new sugar processing factories. This is what is now responsible for the now prevailing pathetic situation in Southern Nyanza.

One of the KSB directors representing farmers in Awendo,Rongo, Uriri sugar cane gro2ing zones, Zakariah Okoth Obado has been heard telling hundreds of mourners that there was nothing wrong done by the KSB in licensing the Sukari Limited within only ten kilometers of Awendo-based SonySugar cane growing zones.Before the two new factories were established SonySugr had contracted out thousands growers cane farmer in both Tans-Mara, Ndhiwa, Rongo, and Urirri district. In case of the Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa is established within the Zone “B” of SonySugar.

The KSB repeated the same mistake similar to the controversial licensing of the Butali Sugar Company, which is very close to the West Keya Sugar Company in Kakamega County Western Province, which has caused a protracted legal battles trough the courts for a long time as the two company scrambles for the scarce raw materials, the

The top management of the two new sugar factories have allowed their plants to be used as conduits in the massive theft of cane from the field by readily accepting the stolen cane crops into their mills for processing without making the slightest effort in finding their sources.of origins. Some of the stolen case crops belong to the small-scale poor out growers farmer in the region.

It is now not strange nor unusual for a farmer to part with thousands of shillings harvesting his over-mature cane crops and leaving it staked in the field while awaiting for the transportation to the mill the next day to wake up and found that the cane had already been packed and loaded on tactors during the wee hours of the night and transported to unknown destination.

It is now forcing both the out-growers farmers and the sugar mills to engage extra security guards to guard the already harvested cane in the feds the night. The raw cane crops thieving gangs are also reported to be heavily armed with sophisticated modern weapons possibly gun and arrow an spears while executing their theft mission of depriving the farmer the money from their sweats.

No credible investigation have been instituted by the police to unearth and possibly stamp out the rampant theft.

It is up to he government to protect the farmers and millers. Reports made to the police in Miori, Awendo, Rongo, Ndhiwa and other nearby police stations and police posts are usually igoredand not acted upon in time. Creating the rooms for speculations an unfounded allegations that top police bosses in those police divisions have been compromised were now acting a part of the massive and well organised theft of cane and irregular harvesting of cane farm developed by SonySugar by other mills.

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KENYA: THE SCRAMBLING OVER RAW SUGAR CANE WAR BETWEEN THE COMPETING MILLS HAVE INTENSIFIED IN MIGORI, URIRI, RONGO, NDHIWA AND AWENDO DISTRICTS.

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

The raw involving the harvesting of mature sugar cane crops has intensified in Migori, Rono,Tans-Mara, Uriri, Ndhiwa and Awendo districts.

The competition over the aw cane is between the long established wholly-government owned SonySugar Company limited and the two newly established Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa and the Trans-Mara Sugar Company, which is located in Trans-Mara district in the South Rift region.

The three sugar manufacturing companies are currently engaged in cut-throat competition for sugarcane harvesting war, which is increasing causing insecurity in the regions.

Whereas the Awendo-based Sonysugar Company, which as been in the business in the area for close to 30 years has been working in liaison with local farmers in and preparation and cultivating and planting of cane in the plots owned by the small scale out-growers farmers.None of the two new sugar factories were has its own nucleus cane growing estate, whereas SonySugar in addition to supporting the local cane farmers has its own 6,000 hectare eneucus estate where it is growing its own cane for raw materials.

Before a sugar mill is established the investors or its owner must ensure they planed several acres of raw cane, either their own, or in collaboration with local growers to ensure that its operations is interrupted by acute shortage of raw cane. This was not in the case of several makeshift sugar mills recently established in Western Kenya and is the cause of the current life threatening cut-throat competition for the raw cane own being witnessed in Southern Nyanza.

A source at the Sonysugar company blames the Provnial Administration and the police authorities in Migori, Ndhiwa, Awendo, Rongo and Tans-Mara districts for complacency and laxity.

The source said numerous reports have been made to the police repeatedly, and it appears as if they have been compromised by the management of the news sugar mills who are blamed for accepting for crashing the raw cane suspected to have been stolen from SonySugar cane growing zones. The thieves don’t even spare the already harvested and staked cane left in the filed while awiting for transportation the next morning.

The alarming theft of raw cane has now forced Sony Sugar to engage extra night guards to keep vigil at all cane harvest fields. Such theft usually ends up in the close to disturbances of peace and tranquility and encourages lawlessness.

SonySugar it is moderately being estimated to have lost close to Ksh 100 million in the recent past throgh illegal theft of it raw cane in the field. The company apart from incurring losses by way of paying the harassing team is deploying day and night guards to guard cane in the field.

One senior Administration Police Officer who owns a popular public join at the nearby Ranen Market, which is only 6 kilometer from the SonySugar plan is susepected to be collaborating with criminal thugs suspecting of sealing the company’s raw cane from the field. Most of the suspects have be market.

OCPD in-charge charge of Migori, Rongo and Ndhwa Police Stations who have been scathingly criticized and adversely mentioned for not helping the situation could not be reached for their immediate comments the Migori , Uriri Awendo and and Rongo D.Cs.were also not available for comments.

One experts who is a player in the industry said in Awendo Town that if the situation is allowed to continue as its today, SonySugar will be forced to close down its business operations after incurring millions of shillings of liabilities through this kind of cut-throat competition.

The massive theft of cane in the field and unauthorized harvesting of immature cane crops is not only hurting sonysugar company economically, but the loses also is being spilt into the economic gains of the small scale cane growers.

The government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Provincial Administration and the police authorities should move with speed to ensure that the that the situation is harmonized.

The public servants who are suspected to have been compromised and not doing anything to arrest the situation should be transferred to other stations. Those who have served in the region for too long should be shown exit door.

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KENYA: IMMIGRATION AND REGISTRATION OF PERSONS MINISTRY FOR ALLEGEDLY RAMPANTLY AND CORRUPTLY ISSUING INDIAN AND PAKISTANI ALIENS WORKERS WITH THE WORK PERMITS AT THE EXPENSE OF LOCAL KENYAN WORKERS.

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Special Report By Bob Ndira-Uradi In Kisumu City.

SUGAR milling companies in Nyanza and Western Provinces have raised complaints alleging that the government through its immigration Ministry is engaged in recklessness of issuing unskilled aliens workers from India and Pakistan with the works permits at the expense f Kenyan worker

Hundreds of unskilled India and Pakistani workers have flooded the sugar factories in the regions, and are engaged in odd jobs such as cane-yard clerks, time-keepers, store-keepers, vehicles mechanics electrical mechanics, boiler-operators, office sweepers, messengers, time-keepers, cooks , welders and penal-beaters, fitters and plant mechanics.

Kenya is not short of these categories of workers after close to 50 years ever since the country attained its political independence in 1963. The country has trained skilled worker n these categories in excess of its labor fore needs.” Said a source a the Awendo-based SonySugar Company.

The CENTRAL Organization of Trade union of Kenya {cotu{k} is silent about this grave situation and appeared to have been compromised.

The outspoken COTU{K} Secretary-General who is also the General Secretary of the Kenya Plantations and Agricultural Workers Union is sleeping on the job and has uttered no word in complaints against this seemingly naked corrupt deals in which some sugar millers are known to be sourcing their worker from foreign sources with impunity against the laws of Kenya that is governing the sourcing f foreign workers.

The sugar mills which are currently flooded by foreign workers included the Ndhiwa based Sukari Industries, kakamega based Butali Sugar Mill, Western Kenya Sugar Company also based in Kakamega district, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries based at Kibos near Kisumu City, Trans-Mara Sugar Company Limited, which is based in Trans-Mara district within Narok County.

Shortly before he met his untimely death in a helicopter crash in Ngong forest near Nairobi, The Internal Security Assistant Minister Joshua Orwa Ojode whose concerted effort is credited to have been an instrumental tool that yielded in the establishment of the Ndhiwa based Sugar Mills near Oria Market, is said to have warned the management of the Sukari Industry Limited, to remove about half of its Indian and Pakisani workers who are engaged on petty jobs which could be perfectly be performed well by the locals.

The Labor Ministry also stands blamed for not effectively inspecting the job specifications I the Sugar mill with he view o ensure that undesirable aliens were kicked out and their places taken over by local skills.

Unionized workers in the sugar industry tro8gh their union are also contemplating moving to court to have he foreign workers have their illegally and corruptively obtained work permits cancelled.

The workers lad the blames squarely on the MPS representing the sugar growing zones in both Nyanza an Western Provinces for allegedly having compromised and failing to articulate the workers sufferings to the government.

They included the MPs representing Mumias, Muhooni, Nyando, Rono, Uirii, Kiloris,IKOlOMANI, Bunyala, Matungu, and Butere.

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Egyptian entrepreneur to establish new multi-billion sugar mill in Tanzania

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Writes Leo Odera Omolo

An Egyptian entrepreneur plans to inject at least Tshs 396 billion {USD 200 million} into a sugar plantation and processing factory at a location near the Tanzanian capital, Dar Es Salaam.

Egyptian African Company for Investment and Development revealed it plans to acquire a plantation of between 10,000 acres and 20,000 acres in Rufiji, some 100 kilometers from Dar Es Salaam.

The company’s chairman Mostafa EL Ahwal said last week that the company expects to produce the first consignment of white sugar in the year 2014. The plantation in Rufiji, under Agro Forest Plantation Limited, will produce 500 tones to 750 tones of sugar per day translating into at least 120,000 tones of sugar per annum. This output is expected to help reduce the country’s reliance on sugar imports and bring prices down.

Tanzania is however, currently experiencing sugar glut with the sugar Board of Tanzania saying it has 460,000 tones of sugar, local demand is 380,000 metric tones per year.

Despite the increase in supply prices are still high at between Tshs 2,000 {USD 1.27} and Tshs 2,500 {USD 1.59} per kilogramme. The high prices have been attributed to factors such as transport and importation costs. Unreliable power supply and rising fuel costs, both major inputs in the manufacture of sugar, have also contributed to the high costs.

The increased production should also see Tanzania export more sugar as none of the East African Community member countries Is currently self sufficient in sugar production while the demand for the product continues to rise.

The entry of the Egyptian firm is the latest in a string of investments from the North African nation in Tanzania. Egypt Air recently resumed flights to Tanzania. The local project co–coordinator for Agro-Forest Plantation Ltd, Kiondo Mahanya, said that the focus of sugar production would include the smallholder farmers.

Tanzania may witness unprecedented levels of investment in the future because the regime in Egypt considers Africa a priority,” said the Egyptian ambassador to Tanzania HOSSAM Moharam.

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Kenya: Chemelil Sugar Company is on its deathbed as the result of poor management and embezzlement of its resources

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By a Special Correspondent

CHEMELIL Sugar Company, which for many years used to be one of the most vibrant and efficiently managed sugar producing mills in the country is ailing and headed for a total collapse.

It owed its raw cane suppliers millions of shilling in unpaid bill for the cane delivered to the facility during the months of March, April and this month, forcing the cane farmers to divert their cane from its growing zones to other factories.

The Company has yet to pay its senior staff and mangers, their salary for the month of April. It has, however, paid the laborers and the junior staff on fears of facing possible strike and demonstration protests.

It has had a change of guard in recent months, which saw the long serving agricultural manager Charles Owelle a Luo from Ugenya being confirmed as the new managing director .He replaced the former MD Eng.Edwin Otieno Musebe, a hard working Luhyia man who had turned around and steered the hitherto run-down facility.

Musebe’s unceremonious removal was both tribally and politically motivated, which saw members of the local Luo community had ganged up and they did everything possible including the staff sabotaging of the mechanically ailing factory, which has had no annual mechanical maintenance running into several years.

Politically Eng. Musebe was viewed to be leaning to the former Minister for Agriculture now the MP for Eldoret North William Ruto, while the local workers and many staff wanted the facility to be managed by a Luo who is allied to the Prime Minister Raila Odinga and the ODM.

They did this to the chagrins of the sugar cane farmers who had very cordial and warm relations with the company during highly profiled skills during Musebe’s managerial prowess. That saw the local cane farmer getting paid for their cane delivered to the facility n monthly basis.

THE former chairman of the company’s board of directors Dr M Mining, a Kalenjin was replaced by Ms Margaret Chemengich a fellow Kalenjin who is a retired former Permanent Secretary.

The abrupt change of top management after the Ministry had refused to renew the contract of the former MD was expected to bring in some skills an efficiency in the management of the facility, which is based in Muhoroni district in the region classified as the Nyanza Sugar-belt, but it has made it the worse instead.

According to unsigned and anonymous documents circulating within Chemelil and Muhoroni towns, the company sale of made sugar indicated that the firm sold 30,000 50kg bags at Kshs 4000 each earning Kshs 120 million, but still could not meet its financial obligations. Where this money did goes to?

By the end of April the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited {KPL} was owed Kshs 30 million unpaid for power bills. This forced the company temporarily disconnect the power supply to the factory last week. However, it later restored the supply following the intervention of by the higher authorities on fears that plunging the facility into to total darkness would pave the way for criminal minded people to vandalize its property.

The cane farmer have yet to be paid for the cane delivered and crushed in the facility between the month of March, April and this month amounting to a total of Kshs 114 millions.

The employees ha received their salary in March and had been warned in a circular that their salary for April would be affected much later. The pay bill is amounting to Kshs 20 million.

Mandatory deductions from the employee’s salary had yet to be remitted to the relevant authority such as NSSF and NHIF. This has now hit the Kshs 14.4 million in arrears. Medical cards covering the employee’s medical schemes are no longer valid and the employees cannot use them, to access medication.

For the rehabilitation of the mill, the company is believed to have received close to Kshs 340 million from the Kenya Sugar Board, but experts says this amount is inadequate taking into account that the mill had gone for years without its annual maintenance. It is now experiencing persistent mechanical breakdown thereby drastically reducing its production capacity.

The frequent breakdowns and the scarcity of raw cane had also drastically reduced the company revenue base. The employees were recently disturbed and disillusioned when they heard that the company had planned to take 18 of its senior managing staff an 11 members of the board of directors for a couple of day retreat to Sarova Lions Hotel in Nakuru.

The retreat was supposed to have taken place around May 8 to May 11th. But both farmers and the workers alike say there is nothing to celebrate while the financially ailing government wholly-owned firm is still facing myriads of problems.

Unconfirmed reports say that Chemelil Sugar Company might have lost between 400 and 400 million shillings between October last following the change of guard to date and due to poor management of its resources.

The local farmers have placed the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the parent Ministry of Agriculture whose some of the officials are being accused of collaboration with inefficient m one on political an tribal considerations

Bothe the new MD Charles Owelle and the Company’s public relations man Bosco Magare could not be reached for their immediate comment. Effort to trace them were fruitless

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Kenya: Jaramogi friend & confidant is the man favored to win Miori County governor position

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News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.

ALTHOUGH the exact date for the next general election remain controversial and subject to heated debates, indications are that in some regions, particularly in the greater Southern Nyanza, the names of individual tipped to emerged winners are clearly coming on the surface.

This is what is likely to happen with the battle for the powerful position of Migori County governor.

Immediately soon after the promulgation on the new constitution by President Mwai Kibaki, many would be aspirants to the various positions within County governance, parliament, senate and County representatives rushed to the media houses and made premature announcement about their intention to run for various.

The position of the powerful Migori County governor had attracted a large number of potential aspirants. However, most of those who had made the early announcement have since found the going too tough to handle and have chickened out of the race leaving only a few of them in the battle field.

Among the individual political personalities who had shown interest in the governor’s position include the Kisumu Town Clerk Christopher O Rusana, the administrator of the Migori based private Ojele Hospital, Joseph Owiso Ngao, an accountant by profession working in Nairobi Sam Onyango, the former Nairobi PDE Chacha Ogwe, a heart specialist working with the US Airforce Profesor Luo Rachilo K’Obuoyo, along time political associate and friend of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Prof Edward Akong’o Oyugi and others.

Information making the round on the ground, however, indicated that only a few hard-core individuals are still actively I the race, running errands on votes canvassing missions in the minerals and agriculturally rich vast County.

So far the name of the radical university professor, Edward Akong’o Oyugi is slowly emerging s he man whose fortune is likely to appear on the card.

Along time political associates and confidant of the doyen of oppositionist politics in Kenya the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga,Prof Oyugi is an household name as far as the radical politics in Kenya is concerned. It had earned him tribulations including close to two years in political detention camps, dismissal from s teaching job at the University of Nairobi and self-imposed exile in one of the Scandinavian countries for a couple of years.

Prof Oyugi was detained together with the former Kitutu Masaba MP George Moseti Anyona as the duo were just about to announce the formation of new political party as opposed to the one party monolithic system under the draconian and despotic rule of the retire President Daniel Arap Moi. He came out of detention only to find that he had been fired from his teaching job at the University of Nairobi and could not be reinstated to work in any of the public universities in Kenya. The frustration that followed forced him to look for green pasture elsewhere.

A survey carried out inside all the eight parliamentary constituencies that make what is known as Migori County revealed that Prof.Oyugi’s popularity is on the upsurge trend. He has taken the early lead against the pack of other aspirants.

Mineral and agricultural rich County covered eight constituencies which included Rongo, Awendo, Uriri, Migori East, Migori Town, Kuria east and Kuria West and Nyatike.

Awendo, Kuria West and Migori town are the new parliamentary constituencies which were recently created by the Independent electoral and Boundary Commission {IEBC] a part of the additional 80 parliamentary seats create country-wide, which now brings the total constituencies to 290 fro the previous 210.

Residents interviewed across the region said the position of County governor does not need a holder to be seasoned politician, but require someone with sound education who can manage the vast resources. “Politicians can go shouting about and contest Senate, Parliament and County representative seats in various County Wards, but must keep off fro the governorship.”

It will require someone with administrative ability as the job entails the holder to act a the Chief Executive Officer {CEO} whose responsibilities will not only to manage the resources, but ensure that the County boundaries with its neighboring region are well secured

.Prof. Oyugi is also advantaged that he is a personal friend of the Luo political kingpin Raila Amolo Odinga with whom they were jailed together by the Moi regime after the abortive military coup of the 1982.

The mineral rich Migori County is reputed for having the largest deposits of gold. Several foreign and local companies are currently involved in exploration and full scale mining work in several locations within the region.

During the old golden days of the”Gold Rush” of the 1930ssveral multinational mining companies were involved in full-scale commercial mining of the precious stone. There full fledged gold mines established at Kitere in Rongo district, Masara, Macalder Gold Mines in Nyatike district Kihancha and Nyamongo Gold Mines in Kuria district and another at the nearby Lolgorien in the neighboring Trans-Mara district.

Macalder mines limited which was later run and managed by the Commonwealth Development Corporation {CDC} in partnership with some South African mining companies also produced copper and nickels in large scale. Migori River is known for having a lot of deposits of alluvial gold now mined in small scale by individual miners.

However, most of the mining companies abruptly closed own in 1962 and foreign miners packed and went away I a rush as the country was approaching its political independence apparently on suspicion and fears that Kenya could go the Congo way where in 1960s foreign mining companies and their staff were forced to flee in disarray after political upheavals and chaos had erupted. The foreigners closed the mines leaving behind large deposits of gold and copper untapped.

In addition to minerals Migori Town which is tipped to be the new County administrative headquarters cold be the biggest hub of economic and commercial activities in the area due to its proximity to the Kenya-Tanzania borders.

The region has close to 200 kilometer running border with Tanzania o the land and also a small portion inside Lake Victoria, but more areas with Uganda inside Lake Vitoria.

The region could accessible through the major Kisii-Migori Highway, which also link Kenya and Tanzania at the Sirare border post town in Kuria East district.

It is a rather complicated and difficult region to manage where two major tribe occupying the borer locations re cut by halves of their tribesmen living across the borderlines, but speaks the same language, making it an area which is difficult in policing security-wise due to easy infiltrations by criminals elements and cattle rustlers across the border from each country for the purpose of perpetuating their heinous criminal activities on both sides of the border. This is why the cattle rustling menace has continued in the area unabated.

Geographically, Migori County is bordering Narok County in the East, Kisii County in the North East, Homa-Bay County in the North and in the northwest.

Bothe Luos and the Kurias tribesmen are cut with halves of the kins and kith living on both side of the border, and this is also at times making the area politics sometime unmanageable, because youth from either sides crosses the common borders especially from nearby Tanzanian villages are crossing crosses the border at will and have even managed acquired Kenyan national identity card with the help of laxity on the parts of administrative chiefs and their assistants.

Sugar cane growing is the mainstay of the region’s economy. Cane which is grown in abundance in Rongo, Awendo, Uriri, Migori East and Kuria districts is crushed at the nearby Awendo-based government owned multi billion shilling sugar factory, the SonySugar Company Limited, which is also arguably the major outlet for employment in the region. The Company has contacted close to 27,000 out growers small scale farmers and similar umber of non-contracted farmers.

Another white sugar mills was recently established at Wachara near Oria Market on the edge of Uriri-Ndhiwa districts border, but on the Ndhiwa side now making region highly motivated economically.

Tobacco is another most lucrative cash crop which is grown I abundance, especially in Uriri, Kuria, Awendo and Rongo districts. However, the behaviors of the various tobacco companies involved I the operations and buying of mature crop has left a million questions to be answered. Farmer have complained bitterly of the corrupt practices by the managers posted to work in the area, who are said to be fleecing the unsuspecting farmers in an unrealistic adding of their crops, the use of brokers by the field managers and undue delay in releasing payments for the crops delivered an sold to the companies, which sometimes takes up to one year before the farmers get heir money.

Environmentalists have also launched vigorous campaign arguing that the excessive use of chemicals such a insecticides are contributing largely to the environmental degradation and soil .erosion.

Uriri D.C George Lagat has recently come out in full blast advising farmers within his area of jurisdiction to abandon tobacco growing for other cash crop an even for food gains for domestic consumption.

This was after some farmers in the district have complained that they were still waiting or the payments for the crops delivered to one firm called mastermind tobacco since February 2011 have yet to be paid for in early 2012.

Migori district is also actively handling huge bulk of fish from Lake Victoria. Here is one fish processing plant in Migori Town, but the region is also acting a the outlet of fish heading for other processing plants in Kisumu, Nairobi and elsewhere.

The region has the shorted shorelines in Lake Victoria covering Karungu,Kadem and Muhuru Bay fish landing beaches. But the disputed Migingo fishing Island is also located in the region and the locals consider it as part an parcel of the region. The rocky one and half acre Island is rich in fish, particularly the highly prize Nile Perch. Some of the catches from he neighboring Uganda and Tanzania are also finding their way to the market an exports outlet via Migori County.

Experts and economists believe that Migori could be one of the riches Counties if the right people are placed on its governance.

And this how the like of Prof Oyugi with such vast experience in public management comes in hand to b considered for the governor s job. Prof.Oyugi hail from Migori West where another aspirant an administrative genius Christopher Rusana who is also eying he same position come from.

The ODM is the party of choice in his region, though there is a small fraction of PNU supporters in both two Kurias constituencies, pundits say they will e wept away and wished out in the next general election.

Prof. Oyugi Akong’o is therefore the man to watch. He said to have already abandoned radical politics previously associated with him and had contributed largely for devolution of power in the new constitution dispensation.

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KENYA: AMOROUS SUGAR MILLS MANAGER CAUGHT RED HANDED WITH PANTS DOWN WITH A MARRIED WOMAN IN A BUNGOMA HOTEL.

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By Bob Ndira Uradi

An amorous top manager with one of the sugar mills in Western Kenya is still nursing the wound as a result of the beating which is said to have received when he was caught red handed pants down with a married woman in a Bungoma hotel.

The incident left many residents of the town puzzled. The man is said to be serving in top managerial position as Human Resources Manager, while his lover is a married woman. She is a wife of a prominent businessman in the region.

Our source reported that the manager has been in the habit of dating married women, particularly those working under him with whom he enticed with promotion.

The love affair between the two has been flourishing for sometime, and the husband got the wind. On the fateful day, the husband is said to have followed the two lovers in a different car as they drove towards Bungoma town for their sexual escapades.

Unaware that they were being followed, the two lovers booked themselves into a hotel and immediately went into action. The husband armed with a Maasai rungu burst into the hotel room and found the two lovers in a compromised position.

He descended on the amorous manager with his rungu. The manager, however, escaped leaving his shoes and other belonging in the hotel leaving his love bird behind. At the mercy of the enraged husband who reigned blows and kicks on her.

According to an eye witness, the woman was buttered almost to death by her enraged husband who had sworn before his friends that he would teach her a lesson that she will live to regret.  

The commotion, attracted a large number of onlookers, and the woman was only rescued from further punishment by good Samaritans. The matter is still very hot and has since become the talks of the town.

The amorous manager who is actually an engineer by profession, but had only switched to human resources career. Dumb folded manager at the facility and workers alike were seen discussing the incident in groups and in low tones.

The Sugar Mill  where the two work is also said to be disgusted with the action of the two senior staff and is contemplating taking disciplinary action since the incident has become popular in the public domain.

Ends