By BOSCO MAGARE
Incessant court injunctions against the election of directors to the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) to represent farmers in the country’s five sugarcane catchment zones are threatening to paralyse implementation of the 2024 Sugar Act.
Sugarcane farmers from four cane-growing zones—Southern, Upper, Coastal and Central—are now petitioning the Government and the courts to allow the elections to proceed in their respective regions despite a legal dispute in the Lower catchment zone.
The farmers, led by Central catchment zone representative Zedekiah Kendo Masiaga, want the Government to sanction the elections in the four zones that have no outstanding disputes.
The Southern catchment zone comprises Migori, Homa Bay, Kisii and Narok counties, while the Central catchment covers Kisumu, Kericho and parts of Nandi counties.
The Upper catchment zone comprises West Pokot, parts of Kakamega, Uasin Gishu and sections of Nandi counties, while the Coastal catchment covers Kwale, Tana River and Lamu counties.
The Lower catchment zone comprises Bungoma, parts of Kakamega, Busia and Siaya counties.
The latest injunction, filed late last month, stopped the KSB board elections that had been scheduled for September 5. Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe is expected to issue a Government position on the matter following consultations, including advice from the Attorney General.
Speaking to TRBN, Masiaga said the repeated court interventions were delaying the election of KSB directors and frustrating implementation of reforms contained in the 2024 Sugar Act.
“These court injunctions are delaying the process of electing KSB directors to represent farmers’ interests in the country’s five cane catchment zones. The board directors to be elected will be responsible for formulation of policies to regulate the local sugar sub-sector,” Masiaga said.
He said the absence of a fully operational board was hampering the regulator’s ability to discharge its mandate, leaving farmers, millers and other stakeholders disadvantaged.
Masiaga appealed to the Government and courts to allow farmers in the Central, Southern, Upper and Coastal catchment zones to proceed with the elections while those in the Lower catchment zone resolve their outstanding grievances.
“Farmers and stakeholders in the Lower cane catchment zone who still have pending issues with the election of a board director to represent their region can, in the meantime, be allowed to sort out their grievances,” he said.
He argued that the latest injunction had disadvantaged millions of people who depend directly or indirectly on the sugar industry, from cane production at farm level to processing and consumption.
Masiaga, who comes from Wangaya area in Masogo-Nyangoma Ward, Kisumu County, said the delayed implementation of reforms under the 2024 Sugar Act was undermining efforts to make sugarcane farming a viable commercial enterprise.
He said the reforms were also intended to increase cane yields and domestic sugar production, reducing the country’s dependence on imported sugar, including supplies from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Masiaga said farmers were also disadvantaged by the current system of paying for cane based primarily on weight rather than sucrose content.
“Farmers want to be paid cane prices based on sucrose content so that they can maximally reap the benefits of their sweat,” he said.
He further raised concerns over the poor state of sugarcane feeder roads and bridges, saying farmers incur significant costs transporting cane to factories.
According to Masiaga, many feeder roads have deteriorated because of adverse weather and inadequate maintenance, despite cess deductions from farmers’ cane proceeds being channelled to county governments.
He accused some county governments of diverting the funds to programmes unrelated to the sugar sector.
Masiaga said delayed implementation of the 2024 Sugar Act was also denying farmers the benefits expected from the reintroduction of the Sugar Development Levy (SDL).
The levy is expected to generate funds through deductions on sugar sales by local factories, with the Kenya Sugar Board responsible for administering the funds to support various programmes in the sugar industry.
Under the 2024 Sugar Act, 40 per cent of the SDL is allocated towards cane production by farmers across the five sugarcane catchment zones.
Another 15 per cent is allocated for rehabilitation and maintenance of sugar feeder roads in cane-growing areas, while five per cent is allocated to farmers’ representative bodies and unions for advocacy.
The Act also provides for funding towards research and development of improved sugarcane varieties, including varieties that mature earlier, have higher sucrose content and are resistant to diseases.
Masiaga said such reforms could eventually facilitate the transition from the current weight-based payment system to a sucrose-based model.
“The development of high-yield sucrose cane varieties will enable farmers to transit from the current cane delivery payment model based on sugarcane weight to sucrose-based payment,” he said.
He added that several Cane Testing Units (CTUs) established by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) and KSB needed to be operationalised to facilitate accurate determination of sucrose content and enable farmers to receive better prices.
In a separate interview with TRBN, Samuel Onyango Ong’ow, a candidate seeking to represent farmers in the Central catchment zone, said the repeated injunctions had disrupted candidates’ campaign plans.
Ong’ow, who has experience as an AFA board director, said candidates had incurred significant expenses preparing for the elections, including logistics and campaign activities.
“The latest injunction against the KSB poll has been placed by cane farmers from the Lower Western cane catchment zone. The farmers want their electoral boundaries to be included in the Upper Western cane catchment zone,” Ong’ow said.
He said the legal dispute had forced candidates to scale down their campaigns as they await the outcome of the court proceedings and direction from the Government.
The petition challenging the injunction is scheduled for hearing and determination on September 11, according to information presented to TRBN.
Meanwhile, candidates have continued with low-key campaigns as they await the court’s decision and possible direction from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and the Attorney General on the way forward.
