Court suspends election of farmers representative to Kenya Sugar Board

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The election of farmers' representatives to the  Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) scheduled for Saturday, September 5, 2026, has been suspended after the court issued interim conservatory orders stopping the exercise.

The orders were issued on Wednesday in Kericho Constitutional Petition No. E016 of 2026 in a case filed by Richard Ochieng and two others against the KSB and the Election Committee.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development subsequently notified sugarcane growers and candidates through a circular that the election had been suspended.

Harun Khator, chairperson of the KSB Grower Directors Election Committee and secretary of administration, said the committee had reviewed the orders and implications before it decided to halt the election exercise.

Khator said the orders had to be respected to ensure that the election process complied with the directions of the court and the rule of law. The development has plunged the sugar sector into fresh uncertainty.

“In light of the need to ensure that the electoral process is undertaken in accordance with the directions of the Court and cognisant of the duty to uphold the rule of law, the Election Committee has resolved to suspend the election until such a time when the orders are set aside or varied by the court,” the notice stated.

The suspension means thousands of sugarcane growers will not elect their representatives to the board on September 5 as had been planned.

The election committee said a new date would be announced once the legal issues surrounding the exercise are resolved.

“The election will proceed once the conservatory orders are set aside or varied by the court, with a fresh date to be announced,” the committee said.

Khator urged growers and candidates to take note of the suspension as the committee complies with the court’s directions.

The latest court intervention is the latest in a series of legal challenges that have disrupted the election of farmer representatives to the board.

An earlier petition had been filed before the Kakamega and Vihiga law courts, further complicating efforts to conclude an election that farmers had hoped would restore elected representation in the sugar sector.

The election had initially been scheduled for June 25 before being pushed into a prolonged legal battle.

The dispute has generated growing frustration among sugarcane farmers, who have accused various interests in the sector of using court cases to delay the exercise.

Farmers under the Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (KNFSF) and the Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Products (KASAP) had, about a month ago, threatened to mobilise growers across the sugar belt for nationwide demonstrations if the stalemate was not resolved.

The farmers alleged that the continued litigation was part of a wider scheme involving sugar cartels, millers and government officials to frustrate the election and retain control of the industry.

Speaking outside the Kakamega High Court after an earlier hearing, KNFSF Secretary General Killion Osur Anyango said farmers were increasingly losing patience with the repeated court battles.

“We came to court with an anticipation of a positive ruling that we are going to have an election because we were supposed to have an election on June 25, 2026. Unfortunately, we have some people who are just dragging farmers to court with cases throughout,” Anyango said.

He accused those behind the legal challenges of lacking legitimate interests in the sugar industry, claiming some could not demonstrate that they had delivered cane to any factory.

Anyango said the federation would mobilise its structures for action if the election continued to be delayed.

“Even for now what we have seen, we are going to take charge of our farmers, and we are going to make a decision. I am going to call an executive board, then the governing council, and then we are going to the streets openly, and we have nothing to hide because the courts are playing games with us,” he said.

He also appealed to President William Ruto to intervene, alleging that sugar cartels and millers were seeking to influence the sector, including through sugar imports.

“We are seeing cartels wanting to import sugar, including the millers, and we are telling the President to intervene quickly, and failure to do that, we are going to mobilise farmers from the cane-growing zone not to vote in 2027,” Anyango said.

He further criticised proposed amendments to the Kenya Sugar Act that, according to farmers, could change the system of selecting board directors from elected representatives to appointed officials.

“Right now we have another bill in Parliament which wants to have nominations of board directors instead of elected ones,” he said, arguing that farmers should retain the right to choose their representatives.

KASAP National Chairman Charles Atiang also accused the government and the Kenya Sugar Board of frustrating farmers through prolonged litigation.

“We are so dissatisfied with the so-called Ruto’s government. It is clear that the Kenya Sugar Board is playing games with farmers. They ought to have organised an election, but the affidavit they have sworn in court does not give a clear direction of farmers having an election,” Atiang said.

He claimed that farmers had spent months moving between courts in Kisumu and Kakamega over the dispute, which he said was hurting efforts to reform the industry.

“For the last three months we have been in courts, Kisumu and Kakamega, and this is to frustrate farmers to the advantage of cartels in the sugar industry,” he said.

Atiang also accused Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe of backing proposed changes that would see board directors appointed rather than elected.

“We are asking why they want farmers not to elect their representatives,” he said, adding that farmers had resolved to confront the ministry over the issue.

The Kenya Sugar Board grower directors’ election is intended to give sugarcane farmers a direct voice in the management and affairs of the country’s sugar industry.

With the latest suspension, however, growers will have to wait longer to choose their representatives, as the election committee awaits further court directions.

The new legal setback is likely to prolong uncertainty in the sugar industry, while candidates who had been campaigning across the five catchment areas are forced to put their political activities on hold.

For farmers, the immediate demand remains clear: an end to the legal stalemate and a firm election date that will allow them to exercise their right to choose representatives to the Kenya Sugar Board.