Anxiety in House as Comesa sugar safeguards expire

Members of Parliament are in a hurry to see five sugar millers privatised. They said the Government-owned millers need to be sold to enable them survive the influx of cheap sugar imports expected after expiry of tariff safeguards under the Common Market for Southern and Eastern Africa (Comesa).

The lawmakers said the five Government-owned millers, which have been reeling under the weight of colossal debts estimated at Sh41.8 billion, have to be privatised as the government has failed to manage them.

In a debate on a report of the National Assembly's Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade, the legislators said some of the companies have to be merged to make them "financially viable".

"Chemilil, Muhoroni, Sony, Nzoia and Miwani sugar companies, must be sold to investors to enable 'revitalisation of the sugar sector'," they said.

The hurry to privatise the sugar firms comes five months after the Cabinet approved the sale of the firms, and over two years after Parliament approved that Sh33.7 billion of the huge debt should be written off.

"The privatisation programme should be expedited to save these sugar factories from imminent collapse. The Government cannot continue injecting capital into these factories year in, year out without any return," said Benjamin Langat, the chairman of the Finance, Planning and Trade in the National Assembly.

The worry for the MPs is that the investors who will be putting money into these companies, should be coming in to make profits and improve the livelihoods of the farmers, and not simply come to run the factories down.

Mr John Mbadi (Suba) said the Government had agreed to let go, so MPs too should be quick to approve the sale or else the sector will never recover. "Governments are not in the business of running businesses but creating enabling environment."