Pay workers and farmers arrears before privatisation, Nzoia Sugar chair tells govt

Nzoia sugar chairman Alfred Khang'ati with board director Bonface Otsula (Left) and Managing director Hezron Kotut (Right) adressing the medsia in Bungoma town.

Nzoia Sugar chairperson Alfred Khang'ati has called on the government to prioritize paying off farmers and workers' debts before a new investor takes over the operations of the miller.

Khang'ati pointed out that it has been a norm whenever a government parastatal is leased, workers are affected directly, and in most cases, their arrears are never addressed.

"This has been seen in the recent leasing of Mumias sugar, the new investor came in and even changed the company's name to 'new Mumias sugar 2022' and whenever former workers and fa

rmers asked to be paid their debts, they were told that's a new company with different management that owes them nothing, we want to avoid such cases," said Khang'ati.

Speaking during a press briefing with journalists in Bungoma town, the former lawmaker noted that the majority population of Nzoia sugar workers are nearing retirement and not eligible to be employed elsewhere, therefore denying them their pay and pension will be unfair.

The total farmer's arrears is Sh272 million while workers are owed Sh2.2 billion.

Nzoia is among four millers scheduled for leasing. Others are Muhoroni, Sony, and Chemilil factories.

According to the lease document, the contract will run for 30 years, with an evaluation of the agreement between the government and the new investor done every three years.

The director of the Nzoia board, Bonface Otsula, explained that as it stands, Nzoia sugar company is obsolete and not in a capacity to mill, let alone compete with other millers in the zone.

Otsula revealed that there haven't been any milling activities at the company due to frequent breakdowns of machines, which he said have never received proper servicing since 2015.

The Managing Director of Nzoia Hezron Kotut confirmed that tenders to lease all four state millers were opened on March 25, 2025.