- He said the details about the deal must be made public because KCB Group is listed at the stock exchange and Mumias was also a listed company.
- Steel tycoon Narendra Raval is among eight individuals who have been shortlisted to take over Mumias Sugar through leasing.
Image: TWITTER/MUSALIA MUDAVADI
The leadership of Western Kenya is in darkness about a planned takeover over of Mumias Sugar by an investor identified by Kenya Commercial Bank.
Speaking on behalf of those leaders in Vihiga County, Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi said the struggling sugar firm is a strategic facility in the region and that locals must be fully involved.
''KCB Group which placed the company under receivership must be careful how it picks an investor to revive it because the person or firm that comes in will require the goodwill of the leadership, farmers and other stakeholders,'' Mudavadi said.
He added that the process must be above board because they don't want opportunists to perpetuate asset stripping.
“Were hearing that someone put in a bid, others came in later. Accusations are starting to fly and that is why I am asking the KCB and receiver-manager to be clear,'' Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi said that the government should ensure the full implementation of the sugar task force to restore sanity in the sugar sub-sector.
“Implementation of the report is critical to the entire country and the agriculture sector in general as it has recommendations on policy guidelines,” he said.
He said that the taxation structure in the sugar industry must be reviewed to ensure the sector is attractive to both investors and growers.
Steel tycoon Narendra Raval is among eight individuals who have been shortlisted to take over Mumias Sugar through leasing.
Under the leasing deal, the successful firm will run the plant on behalf of KCB after it defaulted on loans amounting to Sh545 million owed to the lender, which successfully pushed the process through the courts.
He told journalists that he is ready to pump in the required cash to return the giant miller to productivity after years of inactivity resulting from financial woes.
''I would be very happy if I emerge the best as my main objective will be to revive the factory and give back the livelihood to over a million people who relied on the firm,” said Raval.
Western leaders want details about the deal made public because KCB Group is listed at the stock exchange and Mumias was also a listed company.
The once premier miller stopped milling over two years ago over a huge debt portfolio running in billions, poor internal governance, corruption and inadequate supply of raw material occasioned by poaching of its contracted cane by rival millers.
The company was placed under receivership in September 2019 and has since then been distilling ethanol.
Lugari MP Ayub Savula has asked the receiver-manager at the troubled Mumias sugar firm P. V Ramana Rao to declare the amount of money he has made from the sale of ethanol.
“We’re aware that the KCB has negotiated with Narendra Raval who is ready to pump Sh5 billion in the revival of the company. Rao must make public how much money he has made from ethanol and how much he has repaid KCB,” Savula said.
Rao could not be reached for comment as he neither answered called nor responded to text messages sent to his cell phone.
Savula added that the closure of the company ruined thousands of lives in Western Kenya as sugarcane farming is the economic min stay for the region.
''Leaders from the western will fully support Raval or any successful bidder in the revival process to ensure the once successful firm roars back to life.