August 24, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/VxOGHy
The government is seeking views from Kenyans on the best approach in privatising five sugar companies to shore up the dwindling fortunes of the industry, according to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper.
The targeted companies are Nzoia, Miwani, Sony, Chemilil and Muhoroni.
The public will on Monday engage with industry experts led by Privatisation Commission chairman, Henry Obwocha, and CEO of the commission, Solomon Kitungu, on planned privatisation of the existing public sugar companies.
The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich and acting Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Adan Mohamed will also attend the meeting, bringing forward a discussion that has seen the Opposition attack the government for deals on sugar imports from Uganda.
"Privatisation Commission will on Monday, August 24, 2015 hold a stakeholders' workshop in view of the need for further consultations on the privatisation and sharing of information on the approved transactions prior to implementation," said a statement from the ministry of Agriculture.
The plan is a step forward following a long wait after the Parliament in January 2013 passed a resolution for the companies to be privatised ahead of the expiry of the February 2014 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) safeguards.
On Thursday, Mohammed said there were hopes that Comesa would extend the safeguard for Kenya even as the January 2016 deadline approaches.
However, Comesa had told Kenya that there would only be one extension of the safeguard in 2014.
Comesa council of ministers also gave Kenya conditions such as, "privatising State-owned mills, doing research into new, early maturing and high-sucrose content sugarcane varieties and adopting them" to shore up the local industry.
Further, Kenya was asked to pay farmers on the basis of sucrose content instead of weight and provide infrastructure, including roads and bridges, in the sugar growing areas.
The government estimates that total sugar requirement in the country is at 860,000 tonnes made up of 710,000 tonnes of table sugar and 150,000 tonnes of industrial use sugar per year.
Between January and June 2015, Kenya produced 321,468 tonnes of the sweetener. It is projected that this year, despite some mills stalling operations, Kenya will produce 600,000 tonnes of sugar.
"We expect to cover the deficit and even become a net importer of sugar at some point in the future. But before that importation is inevitable to cover the shortfall," said a statement from the government on sugar.