By Roselyn Obala
The future of the country’s biggest sugar miller is uncertain, following rivalry over cane zones.
Mumias Sugar Company (MSC) is losing 1,000 tonnes of its developed cane daily to rival firms, which translates to 400,000 metric tonnes annually.
The situation has deteriorated in the last two months and the company’s production capacity has gone down by 10 per cent.
Managing Director Peter Kebati has put farmers on notice, saying those involved would face legal action.
“We are urging the farmers to stop selling their cane to rival millers. We are going to sue the farmers in order to recover the monies used in the development of cane,” he added.
Mr Kebati said MSC invested Sh2.5 billion in the development of cane in four counties, of Siaya, Bungoma, Busia and Kakamega.
“We are not going to allow our competitors to reap where they have not sowed. We have invested a lot, and we can not plough back profit if the trend continues,” he said.
The company has contracted 117,000 farmers with 64,000 hectares of land under cane.
He stated that in Busia County, the factory invested Sh540 million on cane development on 23,000 hectares of land and has 25,000 contracted farmers.
Kebati has appealed to the Provincial Administration and police to intervene and stop the theft.
“It is an offence for rival millers to steal cane from our developed farms,” he said.
Affected region
Mumias Sugar’s director in charge of Agriculture Moses Nyongesa said if the vice continues, the factory stands to lose 15 per cent of its projected capacity.
“MSC supports small-holder farms in development of cane and the most affected region is Busia County,” he said. “Land preparation, seed cane, fertiliser and harvest of the cane to get the high sucrose content translates to about 60 per cent of the total cost of sugar production in the country and beyond,” he added.
Nyongesa said the firm stands to lose Sh8 billion annually as a result of cane theft from its contracted farmers.
