Nairobi : Cane farmers in the Nyando sugar belt have rejected the proposal to merge Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar companies. The farmers, who met in Kisumu on Tuesday, argued that the merger would not address the challenges but instead worsen their plight.
Muhoroni MP Onyango Koyoo, who led the farmers, said that the machines in the mills are dilapidated and this has hurt production. He also said that the government needs to purchase new machines for the mills instead of merging them.
Koyoo said that merging Chemelil and Muhoroni would not only complicate management but would also expose the mills to corruption. He said that the merger model, if adopted, would further kill the entire sugar industry.
The farmers, however, backed the leasing of the mills to strategic investors on condition that the government write off all debts and clear farmers’ arrears to make them more vibrant and productive. They also want the county government to be in charge of the land on which the factories are built.
Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers-Muhoroni branch secretary Noah Opiyo blamed the government for laxity in enforcement. He said that many mills have been established without adequate cane to run them. He also called for the regulation of the installation of weighbridges, saying that some weighbridges have been established very near to the government mills, which is unfair competition.
Farmers asked the government to include them in the leasing process while demanding that only the mills will be leased and not the land. They also said that they would resist leasing of the mills and the land, as the leaser could decide to stop crushing cane and venture into dairy farming.
Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association Secretary General Richard Ogendo said that they will reject any attempts to merge the public mills. He said that based on his experience Mumias, farmers had no confidence in the merger after the model failed and threatened the collapse of the sugar industry in the Western region. He noted that mills should be privatized to encourage competition.
The government has not yet responded to the farmers’ rejection of the merger proposal.
