Farmers want Mumias to settle Sh400m debt

Mumias Sugar Company Ltd owes farmers more than Sh400 million as of March 2015.

And the more than 120,000 farmers have petitioned the troubled miller to settle the amount from the bailout cash pledged by the State. The Government had pledged Sh1 billion initial cash injection to save the cash-strapped miller.

Following the promised release of the cash, Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers chairman Ibrahim Juma has asked the company to prioritise paying farmers their dues to offset any debt owed to them by the miller. According to the official, almost half of the 120,000 farmers have not been paid after delivering cane to the mill.

Speaking in Mumias during a meeting, the farmers also appealed to the management to sort out the issue of delays in payments for cane delivery, saying the company had committed to pay farmers within 30 days after harvest, but this policy has not been heeded by the miller.

"We appreciate the move by the Government to bail out MSC, but for farmers to continue doing business with the miller, it must ensure they are paid promptly and they cannot continue to suffer because of the firm's misplaced priorities,'' explained Juma.