The receiver management at the troubled Mumias sugar company now says efforts to revive the miller are being frustrated by encroachers.
Legal officer Patrick Mutuli said the management is struggling to deal with the encroachment issue instead of concentrating on revival.
The factory has not done milling for 19 months now since the KCB group appointed P.V. Ramana Rao the receiver manager.
Mutuli said the receiver inherited the encroachment issues from the previous management when he took over on September 20, 2019.
He said the encroachment issue has been contained through collaborative efforts between the management and the security committees in Matungu, Mumias East and Mumias West and the programme to resume milling is on course.
The legal officer said the receiver manager had ploughed over 670 hectares and planted cane on 580 hectares.
On Friday, Mutuli said residents had encroached on some 100 hectares of the invaded Mumias nucleus estate.
He said the receiver management has commenced a cane census exercise to establish the amount of sugarcane available with the aim of resuming crushing soon. He said the company had placed orders for spare parts to fix the mills.
The company stopped crushing cane in 2018 due inadequate cane supply occasioned by poaching of its contracted cane farmers and heavy debt due to corruption and poor governance.
The company is currently distilling ethanol using byproducts from neighbouring millers.
Mutuli dismissed claims that the invasion was sparked by expiry of the lease period for the nucleus land.
He said the 4, 411.8 hectares nucleus estate is comprised of two titles namely Mumias Sugar Scheme/1 and Mumias Sugar Scheme/2 both on a 99 year lease and not 33 as claimed by the Abahuyi Mumias nucleus association.
The association comprises of families that were moved to pave the way for the establishment of the factory and have been claiming Mumias lease for the land had expired and wanted the land back.
He said the over 600 family that owned the land were compensated by the government at the time of acquiring the land in 1972 and therefore have no claim on it.
-Edited by SKanyara
