Ruto to sugar farmers: I'll be back next month to pay you

President William Ruto has promised to return to Migori County next month to personally oversee payment of a bonus to sugarcane farmers.

This even as he opened the final day of a four-day tour of the Nyanza region with a fresh pledge to a sector that has long complained of delayed payouts.

"I will come back here next month to pay sugar farmers to also get a bonus in the county," Ruto told residents in Awendo, home to the South Nyanza Sugar Company (Sony Sugar), before proceeding to other parts of Migori County later in the day.

The pledge lands against a history of payment disputes at the factory. Farmers under the Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers (KNFSF), Sony branch, petitioned the government in February over Sh185 million in unpaid arrears, and similar demands over unsettled dues have recurred in Migori for several years.

The factory was placed under a lease arrangement with a private investor last year, and officials say cane deliveries and payments have since picked up, though some farmers say they are still waiting for outstanding sums.

In Awendo, Ruto also launched construction of the Sh2.2 billion Kanyawanga-Kwoyo-Madiaba road, one of several projects on his Migori itinerary as he wrapped up a tour that took him through Kisumu, Siaya and Homa Bay counties since Sunday.

The government says the four-county tour showcased projects worth more than Sh220 billion.

"Every part of Kenya will get a chance of development," he added.

The President said Migori's road budget has grown from under Sh2 billion in 2022 to Sh19 billion this year, funding a 320-kilometre tarmac network across the county.

On electricity access, Ruto said the government has connected 82,000 homes in Migori over the past three years.

A further Sh2.3 billion has been set aside to connect 21,000 more homes in the next financial year, with a target of 100,000 connections within five years under the rural electrification programme.

The President also announced Sh28 billion for the construction of 8,000 affordable housing units and 19 new markets in the county, alongside hostel accommodation targeting 8,000 students in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and universities.

The tour comes as Ruto steps up engagement in Nyanza, a longstanding Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) stronghold, ahead of the 2027 General Election, following the broad-based political cooperation between his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and ODM.