President William Ruto while speaking during a church service on Sunday, June 18 assured Kakamega County residents that he is committed to resolving Mumias Sugar Company woes.
The President stated that he will not watch as the 15000-acre piece of land is possessed by individuals, instead of benefiting the people, adding that the land belongs to the people.
“I came here in December and said I’ll sort out Mumias Sugar woes. It was not a joke; it is in our manifesto. We will deal with the Mumias Sugar issue once and for all,” President Ruto said.
“The responsible ministry has sat down with governors and members of parliament. We have a plan since we do not want our efforts to go in vain, we have invested close to Ksh.5 billion in Mumias but it still gets lost. This time round we must get it right,” he added.
Moreover, the head of state noted that he will involve parliament in sorting out the issues at the miller.
“I will prepare the whole thing, take it to parliament so that we offset all the government debts, almost Ksh.50 billion. I want to assure you that this company will not go into privatization or be taken by people. The land will remain to be for Kakamega people. We will have a plan to benefit farmers,” he said.
Nonetheless, President Ruto’s sentiments comes after the High Court found Sarrai group of Uganda and its directors in contempt of court for continuing operations at Mumias sugar after their lease was cancelled last year.
Sarrai group had a 20-year-lease to operate Mumias Sugar Company, but the lease was later cancelled.
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Meanwhile Sarrai is expected to know its fate in the contempt of court case, which Justice Alfred Mabeya has directed to be heard by Justice Josephine Mungare.
The head of state in December last year threatened to eject Sarrai Group from Mumias, saying they had not done anything to turn around the company.
“The government will clear all outstanding debts of the miller and bring in a new investor under an agreement that he will be remitting Ksh100 million monthly to the County Government of Kakamega to improve on standards of education, health and improve the road network,” he said.
