{"id":17359,"date":"2025-05-14T18:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=17359"},"modified":"2025-05-14T18:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:20:48","slug":"we-shall-not-allow-the-hostile-take-over-of-nzoia-sugar-company-sen-osotsi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=17359","title":{"rendered":"We shall not allow the hostile take over of Nzoia Sugar company -Sen Osotsi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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ODM deputy party leader and Senator for Vihiga county Hon Godfrey Osotsi today led fellow leaders  from Western region in condemning what he called hostile take over of the sugar milling company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/itskipronoh\/status\/1922683977598464473?t=adcHniAddaa-c6J0u82ecQ&s=19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hon Osotsi led leaders drawn from both houses of Parliament, in accusing the Ministry of Agriculture of flouting court orders, sidelining stakeholders, and handing over a vital public asset through a process shrouded in secrecy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The leaders, drawn from both houses of Parliament, have accused the Ministry of Agriculture of flouting court orders, sidelining stakeholders, and handing over a vital public asset through a process shrouded in secrecy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HOSTILE TAKEOVER - A section of Western Kenya leaders led by Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi,Busia Senator Okiya Omtatta,Butere MP Tindi Mwale, Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna address the media where they opposed the leasing of Nzoia Sugar Company to private investors at Red cross media center, Parliament, Nairobi. May 14th,2025<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/18tQzk7LRL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legislators claim the leasing process lacked transparency, failed to involve farmers, workers, and elected leaders, and violated a conservatory court order barring the Ministry from proceeding with any lease agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at a press briefing, Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga condemned the lease, citing unresolved debts owed to workers and farmers, and accused the government of ignoring an active conservatory court order barring the lease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis matter of the lease was not supported by our people. The court gave clear orders barring the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Development and the State Law Office from proceeding with the lease. The Attorney General was served with this order, yet the ministry proceeded. Who is advising the government?\u201d posed Kalasinga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also raised fears of a repeat of what they termed the \u201cPan Paper betrayal,\u201d where the Rai family took over the defunct paper mill in 2016 under revival promises that have never materialized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will organize demos on the ground and in the air until farmers and workers are paid and the tender process is opened up,\u201dthe Kalasinga MP noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the leaders, the same script is now being applied to Nzoia Sugar and other public mills across the Western region, threatening not just livelihoods, but the future of the region\u2019s sugar economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow they want to do the same to Nzoia Sugar. Workers will be vetted afresh, given a year, and then pushed out. Farmers are owed money by Nzoia. The government says it will pay, not Rai. And once the name changes from Nzoia to Rai Sugar Mills, who will be accountable?\u201d Kalasinga asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah criticized the logic behind leasing public factories to other sugar firms saying the move is not aimed at sugar sector revival but control of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have drug barons and you have sugar barons. You don\u2019t have coffee barons, you don\u2019t have tea barons. Sugar and drugs are high flying commodities, and in this particular place, have no doubt that the Kenya Kwanzaa administration under President William Ruto are a sugar and we are going to stop them,\u201dhe affirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no common sense in leasing a sugar company to another. It eliminates competition. Leasing out 24,000 acres of public land to West Kenya is a direct threat to farmers,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He accused the ministry of bypassing the international tender process saying the awarding of the tender was skewed to the benefit of West Kenya sugar firm for personal interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAn international tender was issued to close on March 21. But the minister\u2019s statement doesn\u2019t mention it. The law says international tenders need 60 to 150 days. What happened to that tender?\u201dOmtatah posed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna vowed to challenge the lease in court and through public action, warning that the sugar sector was under siege from well-connected individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is daylight robbery. If this lease lasts 30 years, most of us won\u2019t be around to explain it to future generations. Our leaders must account for it now,\u201dSifuna stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nairobi Senator warned that the leasing process ignored regional stakeholders alluding that the lease was a plot to grab the community land owned by sugarcane farmers in Bungoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWestern Kenya exports nothing except sugar. This is our only economic lifeline. Yet, we weren\u2019t consulted. And now they want to take even our land. This is land grabbing disguised as leasing,\u201dhe noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will not allow it. There are 1,000 ways to hold people accountable. If Rai thinks he can access our land without permission, we\u2019ll show him that history has its eyes on him,\u201dSifuna added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Butere MP Tindi Mwale added that the takeover lacked legal and ethical integrity questioning the hurried manner the takeover was conducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, I assure Kenyans that we will summon the Ministry of Agriculture and investigate if the tender met the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2015,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy was the handover done at night on a Saturday? Were they afraid of farmers?\u201dMwale posed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kalasinga recalled how Pan Paper, also taken over by Rai in 2016, failed to meet revival promises, with former workers still unpaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere is the tender document? How many firms bid? There\u2019s no clarity on that. The press statement talks about staff salaries until 2026 but says nothing about paying farmers or suppliers. That\u2019s why we are here,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi echoed similar concerns, referencing the Pan Paper saga saying the principle of public participation was undermined in the Nzoia sugar factory take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPan Paper, worth Sh20 billion, was sold for Sh900 million. Former employees live in abject poverty. Now they want to do the same to Nzoia. The principle of public participation was ignored. No farmers, no employees, no local leaders were consulted. So who was consulted?\u201dOsotsi posed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Vihiga Senator challenged President William Ruto directly saying he has neglected the Kenya Kwanza regime promises made to the western region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re behind this, you\u2019ve gone against your promise to revive sugar mills in six months. Instead of revival, you\u2019re killing the industry. We will not allow this,\u201dhe noted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
. ODM deputy party leader and Senator for Vihiga county Hon Godfrey Osotsi today led fellow leaders  from Western region in condemning what he called hostile take over of the sugar milling company. https:\/\/x.com\/itskipronoh\/status\/1922683977598464473?t=adcHniAddaa-c6J0u82ecQ&s=19 Hon Osotsi led leaders drawn from both houses of Parliament, in accusing the Ministry of Agriculture of flouting court orders, sidelining …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17359"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17370,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17359\/revisions\/17370"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}