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.

Ends