Bungoma politician and businessman Wycliffe Wangamati has petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Jubilee government to explain the progress of Webuye Pan Paper Mills revival. The factory collapsed in 2006 and was to be re-opened on August 30.
Wangamati said Bungoma residents are questioning whether the announcement to reopen it was a political gimmick to hoodwink Western. He said the government should say how much the factory was sold for and the status of the company’s assets.
Wangamati has expressed his interest in Bungoma governor’s seat. He said the government should compensate 500 former employees before the mill reopens.
“You cannot think of re-opening Pan Paper and forget the plight of the former employees, whose fate has been unknown since 2013,” he said.
Wangamati said the closure left many youth jobless.
Pan Paper was placed under receivership in January 2009. It could not even pay electricity bills. A year later, the government claimed to have revived it. It was re-opened by President Mwai Kibaki in July 2010. The mill has operated under several receiver managers.
