In Ruto’s bag of goodies for the sugar sector in Bungoma – Nairobi News

President William Ruto distributed gifts at the 61st Madaraka Day celebrations held in western Kenya, promising to develop the sugar sector, which forms the backbone of the region’s economy.

He revealed that his administration had written off accumulated sugar debt of P110 billion and pumped another P2 billion into sugarcane development through state-owned sugar mills.

The Head of State, who spoke at the Masinde Muliro Stadium in Kanduyi, Bungoma County, said the implementation of the new leasing model would ensure prompt payment by farmers for sugarcane supplies.

The program, he said, would speed up payment of wages to factory workers and enable sugarcane farmers to earn bonuses on their investments in the crop.

“We are firmly committed to ensuring that the sugar industry delivers maximum value to all players in its value chains, starting with the sugarcane farmer. Bonuses for sugarcane farmers will be given at the end of the year like other crops,” Dr Ruto said.

The sugar sub-sector remains the backbone of western Kenya’s economy, but it has been plagued by poor management, sparking outrage among sugarcane farmers and workers who go months without wages.

President Ruto has pledged to revitalize the sector with a £2 billion investment to expand sugarcane farming in state-owned mills once the leasing process ends.

The Treasury, he said, was to release a first tranche of £600 million for sugarcane development.

“As part of my commitment to invest £2 billion in sugarcane development through state-owned mills, following the end of the lease I am proud to announce that the Government has approved the first tranche of £600 million for sugarcane development and the Treasury will release these funds shortly ” said President Ruto.

Leaders and farmers from sugar belt regions have criticized the planned privatization of state-owned mills, and some of them have asked the court to stop the process.

Ruto said his administration was developing a database of farmers and agro-entrepreneurs to improve access and use of information in the agricultural sector to enable farmers to access low-cost agricultural inputs and a ready market for their products.

He revealed that 6.4 million farmers registered in the database gained access to subsidized fertilizers under the Fertilizer Subsidy Program.