Sugar board directors oppose Bill

By Kepher Otieno

Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) directors have rejected a proposal to amend the Sugar Act to allow the formation of a trustee to regulate the sector.

The directors have asked MPs from sugar growing regions to reject the Sugar Bill, which has gone through third reading in Parliament.

KSB directors, led by chairman Kiptarus Kerior, expressed fears creation of the new agency would duplicate the board’s work.

“There is no rationale in creating a trustee to administer sugar matters when KSB still exists. This will create confusion,’’ said Kerior.

He said the board risks being redundant should State be allowed to go ahead with plans to constitute a body to run Sugar Development Funds (SDF).

SDF revenue is generated from deductions, about four per cent, from domestically produced sugar and that imported from Common Market for East And Central Africa.

Sony KSB Director Zachary Obado and his Chemelil counterpart Nicholas Oricho supported him and resolved to mobilise farmers to oppose the Bill.

Further amendments

Obado argued the board would be as good as disbanded if the body is formed.

The Bill is in Parliament and is awaiting MPs final verdict. They may either approve it or defer for further amendments.

The board claimed they were not consulted when proposing the new body to oversee management of SDF, which is riddled with claims of financial impropriety.

Currently, SDF is reeling under huge debts, which have hindered its operations and move to be privatised.

Obado told Agriculture PS Romano Kiome to be careful “lest he stands accused of meddling in sugar matters by coming up with outrageous proposals that are not viable for the industry.”

He further claimed the board had never agreed on the formation of a trustee as was espoused in the Sugar Amendment Bill 2011.

“Part of the amendments contained in the Bill were done when directors were out in the office for close to a year as they sought re-election to the board,” said Obado.

Local demand

“Board members were surprised when they returned only to find a raft of proposals contained in the Bill including control of import and export quota, which ministry wants to handle,” he added.

Over the years, import and export quotas have raised several issues among stakeholders.

Many have argued that imports are killing local industries and have called for interventions that include allocation of tough quotas to check against dumping and protection of revenue base for local farmers.

On the other hand, sugar firms have been under fire for exporting the product to other regions when they cannot meet local demand.

Sugarcane is mainly grown in Western, Nyanza and Coast provinces. About 85 percent of cane supplied to factories is from small-scale growers, whilst the remaining is from factories  nucleus estates.