BY OUR REPORTER.
Recent move by the government to fire Engineeer Edward Musebe as the CEO Chemelil Sugar factory has been hailed by farmers and workers at the firm.
However the over 400 sugar cane farmers have demanded the immediate removal of the caharman of the board Dr. Mining accusing him of being part of the team that has contributed to underperformance at the once vibrant sugar miller.
The farmers accused the charman of having introduced arbitrary lay – offs that targetted only senior staff from one particular tribe and replacing those affected by his relatives and people from his ethnic community.
They also alleged that Dr.Mining userped powers of the MD and his roles which saw the factory losing out its hold on farmers to other milling firms withgin the Nyando suger belt.
Speaking on behalf of the farmers Mr. Joseph Njiri Ogut warned that the recent changes may not bring desired results if if the embattled chairman is allowed to continue to oversee operations at the factory which is near collapse due to mismanagemet and cane shortage.
Mr. Ogut said farmers want the factory to be run now by an officer who has worked there for long given that such an officer will be able to fully understand the many challenges faced by the farmers, transporters and the staff at the frirm.
Towards this the farmers called on the government to confirm the acting MD Mr. Charles Apudo Owele who ahs also acted in the same capacity for several occassions before whenever there office is vacant.
” The current acting MD has a wealth of experience having worked at the firm since 1978 when he was hired. He not only understands the problems facing the factory but also knows what ails the farmer, his colleagues and transporters and threfore can fix them easily if given the job” said Ogut.
In the past, the acting MD has faced interviewing panels seeking to recruit CEOs at Chemelil where he excelled.
The last notable one was when Owele beat even the outgoing COE eng. Musebe during the selection process butv was controvertially dropped.
According to reliable sources, the outgoing CEO nad the chairman Dr. allegedly took cash amounting Ksh.380 million from some Asian businessmen from Kisumu town with the promise to supply them with sugar vwhich was not delivered.
The businessmen are understood to be on the neck of the acting MD with demands that they be suppied the sugar or be given a refund.
Chemelil should crush 3000 tonnes of sugarcane per day but is currently doing just 700 tonnes because the plant has never been maintained since Musebe took over.
When he took over management of the sugar firm 3 years ago, Musebe sacked 200 workers at ago.
Todate an estimated 400 staff have since been laid off including several senior managers on flimsy grounds.
Those who were fired however moved to court and were recently reinstated with cost and many observers wonder whether the sugar miller which is struggling to remain afloat in terms of production owill afford to pay for the damages.
ENDS.