Why farm**s are skeptical about Mumias Sugar revival
Dennis Lumiti
Caleb Barasa sits under a tree deep in thought at his home in Ng’airwe village, Matungu constituency, Kakamega county.
He recently heard news on a local radio station that a sugarcane miller in the area will soon roar back to life but he doubts the news.
“How can you convince me that Booker’s will start emitting smoke again,?” he poses.
For 72-year-old Barasa, Mumias Sugar Company – which he and many of his generation still refer to as Bookers – is the only source of livelihood that he has known.
During the miller’s heyday, Barasa was a contracted sugarcane farmer and occasionally worked at the factory as a cleaner.
His wife Peninah hawked food to factory workers.
When the factory machines at Mumias Sugar Company ground to a halt, so did their source of income.
Ernest Murunga, who lives about 10km from Barasa, appears disinterested in the news that the miller may soon be revived.
“I am dying yet those people owe me over Sh200,000 for cane I supplied. I am a pauper because of Mumias,” a frail Murunga says and slides back to his sleeping mat.
Barasa and Murunga speak for many across the Mumias sugar belt.
The prospects of the revival the once East and Central Africa’s largest sugar producer should be good news to residents. But few are excited.
It is not that they do not want it back, they are simply skeptical about the news.
Other factories
Anyone who last travelled from Kakamega to Mumias towns 15 years ago would think they are in another world if they returned today.
The swathes of sugarcane plantations that once characterised the area are no more. In their place are maize and tree plantations.
The few farmers who still grow sugarcane which they deliver to other millers are not happy either.
“The millers behave like poachers. You plant your cane but when it is mature for harvesting, you go through hell to obtain a permit,” said Clara Waswa of Malaha, Mumias East constituency.
She added that even after securing a permit, harvested cane is left on the farm for days or even weeks as the millers take long to dispatch trucks to carry them to the factory.
“You are forced to hire people to guard the cane which is an additional cost. Some farmers have lost an entire harvest after millers failed to ferry the cane to the factory,” she said.
Following the collapse of Mumias Sugar Company, the once thriving Mumias town and neighbouring trading centres are now pale shadows of their former selves.
But area leaders say the new investor, Narendra Raval, has assured them that the factory will be revived.
Taken advantage
“We held a meeting with Raval and he assured us that he was keen on the revival of the miller.
In fact he has already signed an agreement with the receiver manager. Our people should trust this news,” said Lugari MP Ayub Savula.
His Lurambi counterpart Titus Khamala said he was optimistic the new investor would revive the miller.
“I am convinced Mumias Sugar will roar back to life. We will fully support the new investor and will not condone any games from cartels,” said the legislator.
Savula and Khamala said other factories had taken advantage of Mumias’ collapse to fleece farmers.
They said factory workers demand kickbacks before they issue harvesting permits and ferrying of cane from farms to factories.
Raval has revealed that he is facing hurdles from “cartels” which are opposed to the revival of the firm.
Restore dignity
The investor yesterday said he had set aside Sh5 billion towards the revival of the company.
“I will spend Sh4 billion on renovations and modernisation of the milling equipment and Sh1 billion to pay farmers owed by the factory,” he told People Daily on phone.
He, however, called for the support of leaders saying he was not out to make money but “restore dignity to the cane farmers and other residents by ensuring they lead decent lives through earnings from the company.”
The investor is associated with the Devki Group of Companies.
Khwisero MP Christopher Aseka said they will mobilise farmers to return to sugarcane growing once the factory is revived.
“We will ensure the factory gets sufficient raw material. We will talk to our people about this,” he said.
