Mudavadi : Sugar industry blacklisted in Yatani’s ambitious budget even as Oparanya’s Sugar Taskforce recommendations gathers dust at state house.
Speaking to KTN news last evening ANC boss Hon. Musalia Mudavadi pricked the Yatani budget’s view on Agrictural sector. He said that ” We have seen some interventions in the agricultural sector. This is a very critical Rural Area. The Milk sector, Coffee sector and horticultural exporters have received some injections. That’s commendable”
But unfortunate, blatant and purpose ignorance was heaped on Sugar department. The ANC boss wondered a loud as he poked holes and asked why in Yatani’s ambitious budget, the Sugar sector was left out! Remember sugar industry in western Kenya employs thousands of families and without any money allocated to it, it simply means, the jubilee administration lacks strategic interest in growing sugar. The farmers have been left on their own, and the huge sugar market has been handed to cartels.
He observed that, ” in Hon. Yatani’s budget, it seems even the Taskforce Recommendations that were made to revive the sugar sector, were not worthy enough to persuade Yatani to allocate money to the sugar belt region, the sugar industry was completely ignored in this year’s budget. ” There is no Proposals to revive the Sugar Development Levy, theirs no Programmes to address the Import Strategy around the sugar sector” said Mudavadi.
He further said that, ” I hope their will be an explanation to the sugarcane belt in this matter”
Oparanya led task force received blackout from budget committee. And as usual, this report will continue gathering dust on the shelves of state house as the bickering and unnecessary politics of who is who is in western politics dominate luhya politics.
