•“Politicians have vested interests hence they should be left out of managerial roles in the sugar industry.”
•Kisumu county head of civil society network Francis Owuor called upon AFA to review the changes.
A section of sugarcane farmers have protested recent changes effected at the sugar directorate, saying they are not healthy.
The Agricultural and Food Authority had appointed politician Jude Chesire appointed as the head of regulations and compliance.
This change did not sit well with the farmers who claimed giving politicians a chance to run the sugar industry was tantamount to subjecting it to further collapse.
Led by chairman of Muhoroni farmers’ cooperative society Dan Otieno, the farmers opposed the changes done on Wednesday.
“We feel they should be reviewed as such offices do not need politicians who may be partisan in handling sugar sector issues,” Otieno told the media in Kisumu on Friday.
“Politicians have vested interests hence they should be left out of managerial roles in the sugar industry.”
Kisumu county head of civil society network Francis Owuor called upon AFA to review the changes.
Owuor noted that politicians have vested interest and will not sustain the kind of reforms that are needed within the sugar sector.
Owuor also reiterated the need to fast-track revival of the sugar industry to support the growth of the local economy.
He asked government agencies to regulate sugar imports, noting that farmers are worried about the influx of sugar that keeps getting into the country at a time the local sugar industry is struggling to stay afloat.