Bring back the good old days by reviving Nzoia Sugar Company

A view of Nzoia Sugar Company. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Close to a year ago, I saw on television the then Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya hand over a dummy cheque worth Sh500 million to the management of Nzoia Sugar Company for payment to the company's contracted farmers. Many things came to my mind. Key among them was that, indeed, times change. And things, too, change.

Nzoia Sugar Company had in the past paid lots of money many times to a lot of farmers without such choreography. What was special this time round?

During the early 1970s, when I was still young enough to dance naked in the rain without feeling embarrassed, huge helicopters used to land at the Wututu riparian area locally known as "ekewa ya wututu" along Nzoia River basin.

By mid 1970s, word went round that a sugar factory would be built at Nandolia, a sleepy lonely village next to Sudi Railway Station.

By 1978, the factory was up and running and with it came a monumental number of job and business opportunities to Kenyans.

Whereas skilled workers came from all over Kenya, semi-skilled and unskilled workers at the sugar factory were mainly from Bungoma and Kakamega counties.

The sugar company contracted out-grower farmers to supplement its nucleus sugar cane estate measuring about 4,000 hectares.

In my home village of Bukembe, most farmers were initially shy to embark on commercial sugar cane farming, opting to "wait and see" despite heavy prodding by the sugar company's extension officers and the government.

When the pioneer commercial cane farmers received their first payment 20 months after planting, the economic reality of commercial sugar cane farming became feasible and visible.

Lots of money found its way into farmers' pockets. Those who had initially been laggard embraced commercial sugar cane farming and benefited handsomely.

Improved livelihood among sugar cane farmers within the Nzoia sugar belt was evident. Villagers bought items ranging from house furniture, dairy cows, bicycles, transistor radios, spring beds (to replace their wooden ones) and foam mattresses (to replace those made from grass stacked in gunny bags). With money, bride price became affordable and a few farmers opted for additional wives.

Within no time, grass thatched houses gave way to 'mabati' roofed houses in villages within Bukembe and the rest of the sugar belt. The more moneyed among the farmers bought 'box matatus', tractors, lorries and ventured into diverse businesses, including rental houses.

The previously sleepy Nandolia and Bukembe shopping centres suddenly became 24-hour business hubs. Expectedly, both legal and illicit businesses, big and small thrived.

Bars with maids from Uganda and eateries were full at all times and mama mbogas, mama pimas, shopkeepers and butcher men did good business.

People hustled and life moved on with everyone playing his or her role in the money circulation chain. Economic fortunes of those within the Nzoia sugar belt visibly changed for the better.

Emergency expenses

Pastors at Bukembe, too, had their hands full. In the hustle and bustle of the 24-hour economy, there were enough spiritually wayward men and women who needed the holy word to make them repent and mend their ways.

And then things started going bad. The workforce at the Nzoia sugar factory became bloated. Cane harvesting could be as late as 48 months after planting instead of the initial 18.

Payment to farmers for harvested cane became irregular and unpredictable. Instead of regular payments, the Nzoia Sugar Company management gave priority to farmers who needed their money to pay school and college fees, hospital bills and emergency expenses including funeral expenses.

These forced farmers to present fake documents to receive the payments. Suddenly, every farmer whose cane had been harvested had children in schools and colleges and a sick family member with hospital bills to offset. Emergency expenses became the normal basis for payment of money owed to farmers by the sugar company.

After some time, the payments to farmers literally stopped. Management of the sugar company was quick to harvest cane from farmers, crush it and sell the sugar and conveniently forgot that the farmer who supplied the cane and the cane cutters, who harvested it from the farm, needed to be paid.

Gradually, the money owed to the farmers ran into hundreds of millions of shillings and as the farmers stopped growing sugar cane, the company resorted to harvesting immature cane for crushing which consequently led to reduced sales and failure to pay the workers' salaries.

Back to where I began. The choreography associated with the dummy cheque at Nzoia Sugar Company was a special payment.

Special because the management of Nzoia sugar company forced the Jubilee government at the time to intervene and have farmers who had waited for up to five years to receive their payment.

Poor management of the sugar company took it to where it is. Sound management of the sugar company is what will take it out of its current mess. Nzoia Sugar Company should not die.