Release seized West Kenya cane trucks, Kakamega county ordered

Kakamega county has been stopped from impounding trucks ferrying cane to West Kenya Sugar Company.

Kakamega principal magistrate  J. R. Ndururi on Friday issued a temporary injunction restraining the county from interfering with activities related to the company business pending a hearing and determination of an application filed by the miller.

“It is ordered that there be a temporary injunction restraining the defendant, its agents, servants, employees or any persons acting on their behalf from impounding or commandeering the plaintiff's lorries, tractors, trailers or any other property,” the order reads.

“That pending the hearing and determination of this application inter parties, the defendant should release the plaintiffs motor vehicles with all the sugarcane onboard forthwith."

Ndururi certified the application by West Kenya as urgent and ordered that it be served for inter partes hearing on March 2.

West Kenya in its complaint said that actions by the county are meant to sabotage its transport operations and give an unfair advantage to its competitors.

The miller said the county has unfairly targeted only its haulage trucks yet other trucks from other sugar factories are still using the same road.

It says there is no law or regulations which have been passed by the county or the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and communicated to the general public barring the use of the road by a certain class of motor vehicles, especially the cane haulage trucks.

West Kenya said that the company management had held several consultative meetings with the county in relation to cane haulage passing through Kakamega town to deliver cane to the factory for crushing between October 2022 and February 7.

The miller says the county agreed to give a formal notice detailing the dates of the diversion of its trucks to allow the company align itself financially but has failed to issue the notice yet it continues to impound its loaded trucks without giving any reason.

West Kenya argues that the sugarcane on the trucks is deteriorating as the sucrose content goes down rapidly when the sugarcane is not processed on time.

The company said that it is unable to transport sugarcane from over 20,000 farmers whose cane has been harvested and is lying on the farms and wasting away as a result of the action by the county government.

West Kenya is seeking a permanent injunction restraining the county, its agents, employees or any other persons acting on their behalf from impounding or commandeering the plaintiff’s lorries, tractors, trailers, or any other property or interfering with its activities including transporting of sugarcane.