President William Ruto has responded to concerns raised by a section of Kenyans and Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o over the government’s plan to lease state-owned sugar mills.
Speaking during the Kenya Chamber of Commerce event at State House on Friday, May 9, President Ruto insisted that the government will move forward with the leasing plan.
He stated that the process is set to be completed by the end of the week, arguing that involving the private sector would inject much-needed capital and expertise into the struggling sugar industry.
According to the Head of State, the government had already disbursed Ksh1.7 billion to state-owned millers to settle payments for farmers and workers, who he claimed, “had neither supplied cane nor worked for the government”.
“We are concluding by the end of this week the leasing of all the government-owned sugar factories so that the private sector can bring in capital, expertise, and help us unlock the potential in this area,” said Ruto.
“Last year, we paid about Ksh1.7 billion to government-owned sugar mills to pay farmers and workers, farmers who never supplied cane to the government and workers who did not work for the government. The government has no business running sugar mills.”
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Ruto on sugarcane production in the country
At the same time, President Ruto noted that Kenya’s sugarcane production is on the rise, highlighting a 200,000-acre increase in the area under sugarcane cultivation.
He added that the volume of sugarcane crushed has grown significantly—from 490,000 metric tonnes over the past two years to 815,000 metric tonnes this year—representing an increase of nearly 70%
“I am actually surprised that very many regions in Western Kenya that do not grow sugarcane all of a sudden, I start seeing sugar growing everywhere. The imports of sugar into Kenya have dropped by 70% and we have since licensed another four private sugar factories that are now undergoing construction, two or three of them will be done by the end of this year,” he added.
The President’s remarks come after Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o opposed the leasing plans, arguing that it “will return the people to abject rural poverty, land grab and ethnic upheavals”.
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Governor Nyong’o in a press statement on May 7 said the lease transition must be halted, highlighting that it happened without proper stakeholder involvement and under the cloak of secrecy.
Nyong’o opposes the government’s plans to lease sugar mills
He added that as a county, they were “dismayed to learn that the planned leasing of Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar factories has been fast-tracked and finalized”.
Further, the Kisumu Couty boss said this plan threatens to dismantle community livelihoods and invites monopolistic exploitation.
The Governor also pointed out that Chemelil sugar factory is to be leased to Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Ltd, according to recent developments.
“We firmly oppose this opaque lease plan, which ignores the social fabric, existing infrastructure, and public interests in sugar belt sub-counties like; Muhoroni, Kisumu East, and Nyando,” he noted.
The Governor further noted that his government is gravely concerned that the prime nucleus land of Miwani Sugar mills is being transferred through opaque arrangements.
He in turn called for urgent broad stakeholders’ engagement, civil society participation, farmer group consultations and a transparent, inclusive process.
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