In their heyday, Kenya’s State-owned sugar factories provided quality jobs for thousands in western Kenya, making them critical economic drivers in the region.
In the subsequent years, mismanagement and lack of investment have crippled the factories, devastating the local economies which have a long chain of stakeholders who include farmers, transporters and agriculture inputs and machinery sellers.
This is despite several attempts at reviving the sector, which includes pumping in billions in bailouts and debt waivers.
It is due to this state of affairs and the failed rescue efforts that the government is looking to lease out the factories to private operators who can invest and maintain their output at an optimum level.
The lease plan, together with the proposed waiver of Sh117 billion worth of debt, offers a chance for a clean break with the past and a sustainable future for the sugar sector in western Kenya.
That said, care must be taken to prevent the problems that have scuttled past rescue efforts.
First, there must be transparency in the procurement of the private operators, to ensure that they demonstrate the capacity to run efficient and productive mills, with enough capital to boot.
This means avoiding handing the firms to the same old players who have failed to revive the firms in the past when tasked to do so.
The process must also involve farmers and the local communities in order to get their buy-in, which is critical if the government is to keep the plan from falling prey to politics as we have seen in the past.
Community ownership of the process, when combined with support through improved rootstock and fertiliser for farms, will guarantee reliable cane supply for processors.
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