By our special correspondent

The sentiment expressed by a section of Western Kenyan leaders who have asked the Kenya Sugar Boards Chief Executive Rosemary Mkok to Resign has received the backing of sugar cane farmers in Nyanza.

A cross section of farmers in the sugar cane farming fraternity there is a teaching that the KSB CEO should pack and go home due to what they termed as “incompetency, inefficiency and poor management style.

Western province Mp who included Kakamega senator Bonny Khalwale, Mwingi West MP Benjamin Wachiali, Mumias West Johnson Nakoccaa an Lugari MP Ayub Savula in a joint statement released in Kakmega last Friday called on the KSB CEO to take responsibility for the problem taking the Sugar Industry in this country.

The \Western leaders were speaking during the stakeholders meeting held at Mumias Sugar Company Guest House.

The team warned that “Sugar Industry was on the verge of fatal collapse because of Mkok’s poor leadership”.

The KSB which is the regulatory body in the sugar industry had irregulsrlym licensed millers to operate in various parts of their region without meeting the mandatory requirements which stipulated in the law and that is why the sector is in the present mess.

The regulation guiding the establishment of new sugar mills have been ignored and violated with impunity hence the source of intensive scrambling for the raw cane.

It stipulates that the new mills might be located about 40 kilometers from the existing for the purpose of maintaining smooth supplies of raw cane.

The regulation was flagrantly violated by the KSB when it licensed both West Kenya and Butali Sugar Mills very close to each other.

In Southern Nyanza the Sukari Limited at Wachara in Ndhiwa is only 10 km from the Awendo based Sony Sugar while at the same time another Sugar factory in Trans Mara is less than 20km from each. This has been the source of excessive cane poaching.

Meanwhile workers within the Sugar Industry in Western Kenya have placed the blame about the woes in the sugar sub-sector of the economy on the unrealistic policy and practice of Cotu (k)

The workers blame the Secretary General Francis Atwoli for having failed the workers in the sugar industry in particular and in the agriculture sector as a whole. Atwoli is fond of double speaking and has contributed largely towards the workers endless problems in this country.

Atwoli is the secretary at the Kenya Union of Agriculture and plantation. He has clandestine interest in the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers (KUSPW) whose secretary general is Francis Wagara while the union chairperson is Mrs Roslida Atwoli. It has become a family business.

Atwoli has failed to kick out foreign workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who now forms the best part of staff in the Sugar Mills. All the sugar Mills owned by Indian Investors have imported hundreds of foreign workers. Some not even justified for the farm jobs they are holding can be filed by the local Kenyans.

These Mills included Butali, West Kenya, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries , Sukari industry in Ndhiwa and Trans Mara Sugar. Factory in Narok Countty.

Foreigners are engaged on petty subordinate jobs general office clerks, time keepers, store – keepers, junior clerks, account clerks, messengers, cleaners, mechanics, electricians e.t.c. these categories of jobs can be filled by Kenyans.

The attack on COTU (K) and Atwoli came as realization to his support for the de-regeneration of Buteli at West Kenya Sugar Companies in Kakamega County.

Speaking during a fundraising meeting at Chekalini Secondary School in Lugari Constituency where he supported the blamed move by members of the National Assembly to de-register Butali out then key as saying that some of then licenses to the millers were uncalled for..

Anyone supporting the existence of the two factories is encouraging corruption, he said, abutting Mumias Sugar Man can employ and support over 200,000 people it allowed to thrive without competition.

Atwoli also came in to time for having failed miserably from his vain attempt to block the introduction of mechanized tea plucking machine in Kericho, Bomet, Bituli and Nandi Hills, tea growing regions. These machines were introduced a couple of years ago hence rendering close to 20,000 workers who plucked tea manually further deep then Atwoli vehement opposition to the man, which included a failed strike.

The COTU (K) should stop the mechanized tea plucking machine that instead of interfering with the workers in the Tea industry first before poking his nose into the sugar industry

Ends