MPs push for more State help for Nzoia

KAKAMEGA: KENYA: A parliamentary committee has recommended more Government support for Nzoia Sugar Company to enable the firm meet its Vision 2030 projections.

 Speaking after an extensive tour of the sugar firm, Parliamentary Public Investment Committee (PIC) Chairman Adan Keynan said the company was in the process of modernisation hence the need for more Government support to enable it to compete favourably.

 Mr Keynan, who led a team of other legislators that included Chris Wamalwa, Wafula Wamunyinyi, Oburu Oginga and Paul Otuoma, expressed satisfaction after being informed that the sugar company had cleared all its outstanding debts owed to its contracted farmers following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta that saw Treasury release a Sh500 million bailout.

“It’s our pleasure to learn that the firm has managed to clear all its outstanding debts to its farmers in spite of the problems facing the sugar industry worldwide. We now want to urge it to diversify in other related fields to ensure that the proceeds are channeled down to the farmer,” said Keynan.

PRUDENT MANAGEMENT

 He called for prudent management of the sugar sector to ensure that farmers who produce the requisite raw materials are protected from unnecessary exploitation especially from middlemen.

 The committee, however, noted that the Sh28,643,245,000 debt the State had earlier undertaken to write off  was still pending and promised to follow up the matter with the Treasury.

 “This was something that was discussed and approved by both Parliament and the Executive so we don’t see why it hasn’t been effected. This amounts to contempt and Parliament will revisit the matter to ensure that the company returns to profitability,” said Keynan.

 The firm’s Board of Directors Chairman Abiud Wasike appealed to the  Government  to write off the debt for the company to amend its books of accounts accordingly.

 The company’s Managing Director Saul Wasilwa said even as the firm puts in place modalities for the establishment of new lucrative projects like electricity generation, ethanol and bottled mineral water production, it still faces enormous challenges, majority of which emanate from illegal industry practices like cane poaching.

 Wasilwa appealed for Government assistance in taming the cane poaching menace, saying new entrants in the sector have opted to form cartels that steal cane from the firm’s contracted farmers to stay afloat.

 “We have lost a huge amount of cane to the cane poachers and this alone has impacted negatively on our ability to pay our contracted farmers within the traditional thirty days,” Wasilwa said.