Is there sugar shortage in Kenya, really?

NAIROBI: It is inconceivable that three sugar millers, Mumias Sugar Company, West Kenya Sugar Company and Sony Sugar Company should close down their factories at the same time for maintenance purposes when available stocks of sugar in the country amount to only about 6,000 tonnes as claimed by Agriculture Cabinet Felix Koskei.

That this was allowed to happen when there is no shortage of cane to mill in order to reduce any sugar shortages the country could be facing, denotes the failure by the parent ministry to adequately monitor the situation. This lack of attention to detail is largely what is killing the sugar industry in the country.

Greedy businessmen with ties to the government have for many years been importing cheap sugar into the country at the expense of the local farmer who, despite all the time and resources put into sugar cane farming, ends up being exploited through poor pay and excessive taxation. When cheap imported sugar saturates our market, the local industry suffers immense damage.

The National Assembly’s committee on agriculture has called for investigations on Mr Koskei, following what it termed as illegal importation of sugar and maize when clearly there is no shortage of the commodities in government stores.

It is claimed the Cabinet Secretary could have irregularly issued import licences to some unscrupulous traders acting, perhaps, at the behest of some politicians with the urge to make a killing from the closure of the three sugar companies.

It was Mr Koskei who informed Kenyans there was enough food in the country to feed the starving masses in Baringo and elsewhere.

On what basis therefore, did he allow the importation of 60,000 tonnes of maize from Tanzania? Is it possible that Uganda, with only two sugar companies that cannot meet local demand, could export 10,000 tonnes of sugar to Kenya, as the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary informed the country recently? The welfare of farmers and the local industry should not be sacrificed at the altar of individual greed.