Ruto's goodies as revival of sugar factories clouds his Western tour

President William Ruto. [PCS]

President William Ruto’s tour of western Kenya before today’s Madaraka Day celebrations was instrumental in fulfilling some of the pre-election pledges.

Some of the unfulfilled promises threatened to scuttle Ruto’s chances of rallying the region behind him for a second term in office.

In a pre-election deal in 2022, Ruto agreed to have ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford-K leader Moses Wetang’ula serve as Prime Cabinet Secretary and National Assembly Speaker respectively in case he (Ruto) won the election.

On top of that, he promised to give Western region at least 30 percent share of government goodies and tarmac at least 1,000 kilometres of roads. Most of the pledges were voiced during the Kenya Kwanza economic forums conducted in different parts as Ruto campaigned.

Ruto also committed to improve the lives of the residents by offering cheap business loans, revitalizing the struggling sugar industry, creating jobs, providing affordable technical education for Form Four graduates, and even suggested the possibility of passing on leadership to Mudavadi or Wetang’ula after his two terms.

Arguably, the president has fulfilled some of the pledges. He unveiled a series of development projects in Bungoma county, which overwhelmingly voted for him in the 2022 election, where he garnered 255,906 votes compared to opposition chief Raila Odinga’s 145,280. 

The President inaugurated the Kapkara mega dam in Sirisia constituency and then initiated the construction of Mayanja-Bisumu-Sirisia and Mukhweya-Kimkung roads at Mayanja Kitunguu in Kabuchai constituency. 

“Kapkara dam holds the potential to transform the lives of the people of Bungoma. It presents to the County reliable water supply and reduces over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture that has limited our food production,” said Ruto when he commissioned the project.

According to the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura), the border county has already seen improvements in at least 21 kilometers of road, with construction costs totaling Sh1.8 billion, as revealed by the authority’s director general, Silas Kinoti. 

However, politics around sugar could make or break President Ruto’s chances of rallying Western behind him for a second term in office.

The sugar sub-sector serves as the economic backbone of the region’s but continues to be neglected, with a case against the proposed leasing of state mills currently halted by the courts. 

Mumias Sugar, once the region’s primary employer, continues to operate below capacity despite the President’s pledge to secure a ‘capable’ investor to revive it.

Efforts to clear the sugar mill’s debts, which amount to billions, have also stalled, with the President proposing the formation of a committee to address the issue. 

Ruto’s admonition to cartels, who had disrupted the sector with legal battles, leading to sugar shortages and increased imports, has somewhat refocused litigious millers on production. 

Aside from the contentious privatization of state mills, criticized by sugarcane farmers, the Ruto administration faces lawsuits from farmers questioning the mass importation of sugar, which has depressed cane prices casting doubts on the president’s commitment to streamline the sub-sector. 

In Nzoia Sugar, disgruntled employees and sugarcane farmers allied to the firm, are aggrieved because they are owed billions of shillings in unpaid salaries and cane deliveries.