Kisumu county elected leaders during a press briefing on May 12, 2025, in Kisumu./PHOTO:FAITH MATETEElected leaders from Kisumu County have called on President William Ruto to give an executive order to stop the leasing of state-owned sugar factories-Chemelil, Muhoroni, and Miwani—citing irregularities in the process.
Led by MPs James Nyikal(Seme), Muhoroni MP Onyango Koyoo, Aduma Owuor Owuor (Nyakach), Shakeel Shabir (Kisumu East), Joshua Oron (Kisumu Central), and Women Representative Ruth Odinga, the leaders noted that they were not against leasing but the entire process.
In a joint press statement, the leaders cited lack of transparency, disregard for public input, and threats to local livelihoods.
They described the process as opaque and unconstitutional, claiming it violates the rights of sugarcane farmers who depend on the industry for survival.
“What is being meted on the hundreds of households who depend on cane production for a living is an affront to their rights,” the statement read.
“In fact, it is warfare to decimate a whole community."
They argued that the leasing process violates the Constitution by ignoring the need for meaningful public participation and excluding county governments, key stakeholders in agricultural and land matters, from decision-making.
"We, the elected leaders of Kisumu County, completely reject the leases and affirm the call by farmers and other stakeholders that the sugar factories and assets be returned to the good people of Kenya until such a time that there will be comprehensive consultation on the leasing process,"they said in a statement.
According to the leaders, the government also failed to protect the rights and welfare of current factory workers, both permanent and temporary, and warned that any union agreements signed without genuine representation are invalid.
“The sugar economy in Kisumu is a multi-billion-shilling industry. These factories support thousands of households. You cannot hand them over in secrecy and expect the people to accept it,” Nyikal said.
The leaders demanded that the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture immediately submit himself to an open and exhaustive dialogue with regional leaders, sugarcane farmers, and workers at the factories so as to come up with pre-leasing agreements in the various areas of concern to them.
They also demanded that the cabinet secretary make public the secretive leasing dossiers attached to the current process for public, national, and county parliamentary evaluation.
"The current drivers of the leasing plans step aside and new modalities for any future planned leasing be discussed, incorporating transparency, accountability and material disclosures of all bid processes, events, and directions," the said.
The leaders warned that continued disregard for local voices would only worsen tensions in the sugar belt region.
