Government announces plan to privatise cash-strapped KCC company

Co-operatives CS Wycliffe Oparanya. [File, Standard]

The government has announced plans to privatise struggling Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) as part of addressing farmers' payments and productivity.

According to Wycliffe Oparanya, Cabinet Secretary for Cooperatives and MSMEs, the milk processing giant is struggling to pay farmers, a situation that affects production.

He noted that KCC owed farmers millions in milk supplies for the last couple of months, adding that the government is tirelessly working to clear the debts.

"KCC is currently struggling to pay farmers for milk supplied, and the government is working on a privatisation programme to solve these challenges," he said.

Speaking during the 4th annual Co-operative and SMEs conference in Naivasha, the CS also announced a raft of measures to support the Cooperative sector.

He said that the Ministry had suspended the registration of more Saccos, as many of them were not viable and were facing financial challenges.

"There is always an upsurge of new Saccos every election cycle, and many later die, and we have been summoned by the Senate on this issue, and we are ready to defend it," he said.

Oparanya said that the Ministry was keen to amend the Saccos Society Act 2008 as part of addressing challenges in the sector and aligning them to the new constitution.

Addressing delegates, the CS was optimistic that the Cooperative Bill, which has been pending for over 15 years, would be enacted into law by March next year.

"Once enacted into law, this bill will address the issues of governance and mismanagement of funds, which have been a challenge to the sector," he said.