We must get serious on privatization process, Nandi Governor says.

 Nandi Governor Stephen Sang{L} charts with the National Land Commission Chair Ahmed Swazuri{C} and Kisumu County Senator Fred Outa consultative meeting on privatization of public sector owned sugar companies in Kisumu on Monday.Governor Sang has said there must be seriousness about the process of privatization-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo.

By Dickson Odhiambo.

    

March 12, 2018.

We must get serious on privatization process, Nandi Governor says.

ALL the stakeholders in the process of privatization of public sector-owned sugar companies must be serious for the process to move on smoothly, a governor has said.

Nandi Governor Stephen Sang says the process of privatization of the five state-owned sugar millers have taken so long without achieving much hence something should be done to ensure the process if speeded up.

Speaking at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu yesterday during the stakeholders’ consultative meeting on privatization of public sector owned sugar companies, Governor Sang said the process has taken nearly ten years without success.

Sang says the issue of sugar factory to sugar factory consultation should have been done so as to know what issues are there concerning those state-owned sugar millers before embarking on the privatization process.

He says the issue of visiting each factory so as to know what exactly the problem is should have been done, adding that a timeline should be there for this.

“Factory to factory consultation should have been done because each and every factory has its own problems facing it and there should be a timeline like for example two weeks and we are done with this issue of factory to factory consultation so that the next time we meet in a forum like this we will be able to have reports to present,” Sang says.

Sang wonders why resolutions have been made in various previous meeting being convened by the Privatization Commission but they are not being implemented.

“Let us get moving with this process if we have to succeed and the chairman of the Privatization Commission and his team should get this,” Governor Sang says.

Governor Sang says that as leaders they must be ready to make some hard decisions on the issue of privatization.

On the issue in regards to land where these factories are, Sang says the National Land Commission should be able to give a road map on the ownership of the land where these five sugar factories stands.

Sang says on the issue of the share holding the County Governments should be allocated upon privatization, the National Treasury and the technical team from the Council of Governor should be able tackle this and agree on the 25 percent stake.

“If we can agree to these issues, we can be able to reconvene here in a matter of two weeks and we receive all these reports from Factory to factory consultation, the national land commission as well as on the share holding,” he adds.

Sang says majority have been asking a question whether privatization is the best model or not and this should also be addressed.

“ if this question about whether privatization is the best model for us still persist, Why don’t we again get  technical teams of experts to tell us whether we have other options  we have to revive these state –owned sugar millers other than privatization?” he adds.

The Chair of Agriculture Committee in the Council of Governors Governor Okoth Obado says all the stakeholders should be brought on board.

He says the county Governments which were not part of the privatization process initially now wants to be consulted and be fully part of the process as serious stakeholders.

“We can’t say we are going to privatize everything without taking into consideration of the unique challenges that are there in these factories,” Obado says.

Obado, the Migori Governor says plans are there to ensure that a factory to factory consultation is duly carried out and all the stakeholders including the sugarcane farmers are fully involved.

Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr. Mathews Owili who represented his Boss Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o says the position of Kisumu County is that it must fully be involved as a county as it stated earlier.

He says if the process of privatization is the way to go then the opinion of all the counties where these factories are situated and that of the Council of Governors may need to be taken into consideration.

“Most of the Sugarcane growing counties now are members of the Lake Region Economic Block and I want to suggest that the Block be considered in the entire process of privatization fully,” Dr. Owili says.

Kisumu County Senator Fred Outa says the issue of land ownership where the factories stands must be addressed adequately by the National Land Commission.

“The issues of land ownership where these factories stands must be addressed since there are different types of land ownership as far as these factories are concerned,” Outa says.

Outa says if a solution cannot be found on this process of privatization within one year, then the leadership of Kisumu County will have no any other option other than reviving the Public sector-owned sugar factories within the county so as to be able to provide employment opportunities to the residents.

Nyando Member of Parliament Jared Okello says more engagements should be there before this process is fully done.

Okello says it is high time all the issues that bedevil the process of privatization must be looked into and an amicable solution found before moving together in this process.

The process of privatization of the five state-owned sugar millers have taken so long without achieving much since it began around 2008.

The major issue has been the interest of the sugar cane farmers which a number of stakeholders are of the view that must be given a priority in the entire process  as well as the issue of the land ownership of the land where these factories stands on.

The other issue has been what amount of share the county governments where these factories are situated should be allocated to them by the National Government where 25 percent has been proposed.

Some of   these factories include Muhoroni Sugar Company, Miwani and Chemelil Sugar Company in Kisumu County.Others includes the South Nyanza Sugar Company in Migori County and Nzoia Sugar Company which needs to be privatized by the national Government.

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