Governor says selling or privatising factory is not the remedy to its current financial woes.
The county government has vowed to block any attempts by the Government to auction the cash-strapped Sony Sugar factory.
In a memorandum handed over to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi Kiunjiri, Governor Okoth Obado and officials representing cane farmers, instead want the county to take over the factory.
Obado claimed selling or privatising the factory was not the remedy to its current financial problems.
He feared that if Sony, which is among State-owned mills is sold to an investor, many people will be rendered jobless.
New investor
The governor claimed the new investor will come with a focused mind to make maximum profits and will do anything to cut down on production costs and wage bill.
“Either way this could result in reduction of cane prices per tonne and/or massive lay-offs of workers without providing them with an alternative,” the governor claimed
Obado wants the Government to transfer ownership of the company to the county government so that it can foot its huge debt and clean its “dirty balance sheet”.
Whether the proposals will go through or not remains a cause for concern, but given that the factories are 98 per cent owned by the State, they may be auctioned.
Already, the process has kicked off and has received the majority nod of cane farmers across the entire sugar belt going by the recent validated Sugar Task Force Report.
The governor argued that since Agriculture is devolved, counties should be allowed to run the factories.
Currently, Sony, which is listed for privatisation, is operating at a loss. It is indebted to the tune over Sh3 billion and is unable to raise Sh400 million for annual maintenance.
It is also struggling to pay salaries and is currently at loggerheads with unionisable employees and casual labourers over salary arrears and wages close to Sh100 million.
On Monday, over 2,000 employees of the company demonstrated at the factory demanding the salary arrears.
Closed offices
The workers closed all senior management offices including that of Managing Director Bernard Otieno, Finance boss Peter Otieno and Board Chairman Owino Likowa.
Kenya Union of Sugarcane Plantation Workers Union officials Deputy Secretary General John Otieno Ogutu and Sony branch Tom Kongere told the workers to boycott work.
