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.
Ends