All is set for sugar mills privatisation, says Commission chair
By Christopher Owuor, December 6, 2019The technical report on the formalisation of the privatisation of State-owned sugar factories is ready, Privatisation Commission chair Paul Otuoma has said.
Otuoma, who spoke in Kisumu during a meeting between Agriculture parliamentary Committee and sugarcane stakeholders, said the commission has developed an implementation plan and asset valuation report in readiness for the exercise.
He said once the sugar task force report is released, the commission shall advertise for expression of interest then hold a pre-qualification conference.
“We already have investors who have expressed interest. We will also engage them when we get to that stage,” he said.
However, during the meeting, differences emerged between farmers and the commission over factory ownership, with the former demanding a larger share than what the commission proposed.
In their views to the task force, farmers wanted a 51 per cent stake once the mills are privatised to have a say on management of the firms.
In its recommendation, the task force had proposed a 24 per cent stake for farmers, 25 per cent for national government while reserving 51 per cent for the private investor.
Bargaining power
Farmers claimed that to entrust the factories to a private investor would further deny them bargaining power and an opportunity to make decisions, a notion Otuoma did not agree with, saying to deny a private investor large shareholding in the mills was likely to see them shy off.
“No serious private investor will put money where he has no say,” he said, and urged them to reconsider their stand to make the process a success.
Kisumu governor Anyang’ Nyong’o said for the exercise to be successful, it must be factory-specific.
He said each sugar mill was unique with different challenges and strengths, adding that the management and farmers must be given an opportunity to decide the way forward for struggling mills.