15 targeted in probe on the looting of Mumias

Police will be asked to investigate at least 15 individuals, including politicians and former managers, believed to have looted Mumias Sugar Company.

Names of 15 to 20 suspects will be sealed in an envelope submitted together with a report by a task-force formed to investigate how the sugar miller was run down.

The suspects include top and middle-level managers, businessmen and influential persons believed to have fleeced the company through dubious transactions.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya is expected to receive the report today, with the names in a sealed envelope, which he is to hand over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for action.

A source privy to the names in the envelope intimated that they found substantial evidence that would lead to the arrest and prosecution of the individuals.

“The senior managers of the company engaged in clandestine activities that saw the company start making losses as they enriched themselves,” said the source, a member of the task force.

The source added: “We have the managers who went on a looting spree by selling the company assets in form of scrap metals, while others bought shares of the company using the profits the miller was making and later took money belonging to the collapsed Mumias Sugar Out growers Company and announced it as profits for the miller.”

He said part of the money was looted by the managers by starting up new projects such as the Mumias Sugar bottled water, the electricity plant and building of non-existent bridges in the nucleus.

One of the names adversely mentioned in the report is that of a former manager, who is accused of purchasing the company shares using the miller's proceeds.

Miller’s revival

The governor formed the task-force three months ago to look into what could have led to the near-collapse of the miller and how it could be brought back to its full potential.  

The 13-member task-force, under the chairmanship of County Trade Executive Kassim Were, has also come up with a raft of recommendations for the miller’s revival.

As part of its revival plan, the report recommends that payment of Sh20 billion debt the company owes its creditors, including farmers, be done after two years when the miller will be back to its full crushing capacity.

Cane farmers are owed at least Sh700 million in cane deliveries, and its more than 1,500 workers with a monthly wage bill of Sh40 million have not been paid salaries since 2017.

The task-force also recommends that the company, as a matter of urgency for its full crushing capacity, grows its own cane on its land, as it continues to buy from farmers to keep the machines running.

So far, at least 76,000 farmers have uprooted their cane and ventured into other businesses. Only 20,000 farmers in the region are engaged in cane farming.

“We have recommended that the nucleus that is owned by Mumias Sugar be reclaimed and have cane species that mature faster planted,” he said.

The miller must be on its feet after two years once the implementation of the task-force report starts,” he maintained.

Farmers who have uprooted their sugarcane will be given incentives like fertilisers and free seedlings to plant to ensure there is enough cane for crushing. The farmers will be paid seven days after delivery of cane.

The report also recommends that the Government allows counties to have a stake in sugar millers within their jurisdiction.

They also want the Government to impose a ban on importation of sugar because the market is flooded with the cheap sweetener, hence undermining local producers.

Oparanya has been urging farmers to venture into cane farming and assuring them of his government’s support through the supply of subsidised inputs.

However, the Kenya Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Deputy Secretary General Simon Wasechere says farmers hope the report will provide solutions to their many problems. 

“The governor will have to show farmers clearly laid-down plans to ensure that our interests are well protected in the report’s recommendations. If we will be guaranteed of prompt payments, we will definitely go back to farms and flood the miller with the much needed raw material for sugar production,” he said. 

The committee also has Members of the Kakamega County Assembly, including Joel Ongoro (Majority Leader), Rocky Omwendo (Mumias North), Charles Odanga (Mumias Central), Godliver Omondi (Kholera) and Shaban Oteng’o (East Wanga).