Tensions are running high in Kisumu County’s sugar belt after workers at Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar companies staged protests on Tuesday, accusing the government of reneging on its promise to settle all outstanding dues before the takeover by new investors.
Hundreds of employees from the two State-owned mills downed their tools, demanding payment of accumulated salaries, allowances and terminal dues, and vowed to paralyse operations until their demands are met.
At Chemelil, workers directed their anger at the incoming investor, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Limited, accusing the new management of being hostile just days after assuming control.
The Kenya Union of Sugarcane Plantation and Allied Workers (Kuspaw) led the protests, insisting that any engagement with the workforce must be grounded in the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
“If the government does not pay all retirees their terminal benefits, there will be no operations at Chemelil,” declared Jack Osida, the union's Chemelil branch secretary.
Chemelil branch Kuspaw’s assistant secretary James Agumba condemned the new management’s decision to restrict access to key departments without addressing critical employee concerns.
“Workers have been locked out of the ICT and finance departments, while the new management has not even addressed us since the takeover last Saturday,” Mr Agumba stated.
Meanwhile, at Muhoroni Sugar Company, incoming investor, West Valley Sugar, a subsidiary of the Kipchimchim Group, has moved to calm tensions by pledging partial payments to over 800 workers.
“We met with the workers and agreed to begin settling dues this Friday as we focus on reviving operations,” said Bernard Soi, Managing Director of the Kipchimchim Group.
The leasing of public mills has triggered a strong political backlash from Kisumu County leaders, who have united in calling for the immediate suspension of the leasing process through a presidential executive order to stop the 30-year plan.
At a press conference, six MPs from the greater Kisumu region, including Dr James Nyikal, Ruth Odinga, James Koyoo, Joshua Oron, Aduma Owuor and Shakeel Shabir, criticised the Ministry of Agriculture for pushing through the leasing process without consulting stakeholders.
“The sugar economy in Kisumu County is a multi-billion-shilling industry anchored on Chemelil, Muhoroni and Miwani sugar factories.
“The current leasing process is not only opaque but is being executed in total disregard of constitutional requirements,” the leaders said in a joint statement in Kisumu.
Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron questioned the secrecy surrounding the deals, calling on the government to disclose all lease agreements and related documents.
“What is the exit clause? How much are these companies paying? And is the money going to the national or county governments?” he posed.
The MPs threatened to take the matter to court, accusing the government of failing to involve the public as required under the Constitution and Section 114 of the County Governments Act.
They warned that the current approach was an “affront to the rights” of sugar-growing communities, likening it to “warfare aimed at decimating an entire community.”
Ms Odinga, for her part, noted that the leasing had ignored the welfare of current employees and risked entrenching monopolies with poor performance records.
