CORD, Jubilee battle over Webuye Pan Paper’s revival in Western Kenya

The Pan Paper plant in Webuye town. [PHOTO: BENJAMIN SAKWA/STANDARD]

The Government’s revival of the Pan Paper Mills in Webuye and an announcement that it will give Mumias Sugar Company an additional Sh1.1 billion has triggered angry exchanges between Jubilee and CORD-allied politicians in western Kenya.

Opposition leaders in the region have asked for details of an agreement in which a private investor will take over the mill, and complained that Jubilee would leverage the companies’ revival to  popularise itself in the vote-rich region.

However, leaders allied to Jubilee have dismissed the Opposition, and argued that the firms went down when many of the CORD leaders were in government.

They described the Opposition leaders as economic saboteurs who are not interested in ensuring that local people got jobs with the revival of these companies

However, Ford Kenya Secretary General and MP for Tongaren Eseli Simiyu said the Government was a major shareholder in the two factories and had a duty to ensure that the two firms were  back on their feet.

 “The Government slept as the two institutions were brought down. It is therefore its responsibility to make amends. It is not a favour and the matter cannot be used for vote hunting,” said Eseli.

Last week, the Government announced that an investor — the Rai Group of Companies —would revive Webuye Pan Paper after the factory collapsed seven years ago.

The Government also announced that it had released Sh1.1 billion to add on to the Sh1 billion it granted to bail out Mumias Sugar Company.

These efforts have been applauded in some quarters with Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka  insisting that President Uhuru Kenyatta’s efforts to revive Pan Paper would fulfill a pledge he made when he visited the region after he was elected.

“When the President attended my homecoming party, he promised to address some of the outstanding issues in the county. Among the issues we discussed with him as leaders were the revival of Pan Paper, bailing out of  Nzoia Sugar Company and construction of roads,” said Lusaka.

Another Jubilee ally, Mumias East MP Benjamin Washiali, concurred.

“There is no politics in reviving Pan Paper and Mumias Sugar Company. Jubilee has proved to be concerned with the welfare of our people and in turn we should support it in 2017,” said Washiali.

According to  Webuye West MP Dan Wanyama the revival of the factories complies  with Jubilee’s manifesto which upholds the view that each region  should benefit from Government-sponsored development projects.

“We have been pleading with Jubilee to revive our factories. They have done so and some people are now linking it to politics. Jubilee has a responsibility to serve all Kenyans without isolating any part of the country,” said Wanyama.

And former Webuye MP Musikari Kombo said by these actions Jubilee deserved the support  of the electorate. 

However, Bungoma Senator and CORD co-principal Moses Wetang’ula and Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale said the local community should have been involved in the process of sourcing for the investor.

Similarly, Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba cautioned Jubilee against using the revival of the two factories to seek votes from the region. “We pay tax and we deserve to get our stake from the Government.