Activist Omtatah wants KCB receiver manager out of Mumias

Activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court seeking removal of KCB Group #ticker:KCB appointed receiver manager PVR Rao saying he has failed to protect the assets of Mumias Sugar.

In the petition, Mr Omtatah says instead of breathing life into the company, Mr Rao has allegedly mismanaged ethanol operations and shut them down in March, thus halting all manufacturing operations at the company.

He further says without proper planning, Mr Rao ploughed about 1,673 acres of the nucleus estate but failed to plant sugarcane on some 759 acres, letting the effort go to waste.

“It is clear that the receiver manager who has been on site for some two years now has failed in his mission to protect the company’s assets and to the best extent maintain its operations. Instead, he has completely shut down the company and is en-route to hitting the last nail in the coffin of Mumias Sugar Scheme,” he said.

Mr Omtatah also wants the Treasury to revive the company arguing that apart from the 20 percent shareholding in the miller, and the fact that the company sits on land being acquired for the public and to support the economy of the wider western Kenya region, a public interest arises in its running.

“The Treasury cannot fold its hands and watch as unscrupulous individuals seek to profiteer from the woes facing Mumias Sugar Company Limited, which was set up to implement the Mumias Sugar Scheme and sits on public land that was leased from local landowner for 33 years since 1 February 1968 to 31 January 2001,” he said.

He told the court the matter is extremely urgent since early this month, the Senate’s Agriculture Committee directed the receiver manager, to re-advertise the bid to salvage the troubled miller within 14 days.

Mr Omtatah said when Mr Rao was summoned to the Senate he disclosed that he had invited eight companies to bid.

They include Catalysis Group of Russia, Sarrai Group (Uganda), Kruman Associates (France), Kibos Sugar and Devki Group of Kenya, Premier JV and Third Gate Capital Management, Godavari Enterprises, both from India.