Nzoia Sugar battles to pay off Sh120m owed to farmers

Nzoia Sugar Company owes contracted farmers in Bungoma County Sh120 million in arrears accrued since December last year.

In an interview with The Standard, Nzoia Sugar Acting Managing Director Godfrey Wanyonyi said the debt accrued when the company closed its facilities for annual maintenance.

“When we closed the factory for six weeks, we could not crush or sell sugar. We were repairing our mill to increase its crushing capacity and ensure the machines are in order,” he said.

However, after resuming operations, the firm has been unable to sell sugar at favourable prices due to a saturation of the commodity in the market. The MD said despite this, the firm is working to pay off farmers, spending about Sh1 million a day to do so.

“We have paid our farmers their dues for the months of October and November, and some have started receiving December dues, but we are still facing some challenges, like huge stock in our warehouse,” he said.

He added that Nzoia Sugar is retailing at Sh3,800 per 50-kilogramme bag, while its competitors have reduced prices to Sh3,500. This has left the firm holding more than 50,000 bags of sugar in its stores.