- Pending hearing and determination of the matter, the agents and employees of Sarrai Group have been ordered to cease any and all activities.
- The officer commanding Mumias police station has also been ordered to facilitate the safe return of all vandalised and looted assets of the sugar company.
Image: FILE
Hopes of reviving ailing Mumias Sugar Company suffered another blow after the court ordered Ugandan firm Sarrai to cease all operations at company.
In a new application, the creditors accused the firm of intending to smuggle sugar from Uganda using Mumias Sugar packaging.
On Thursday, Justice Wilfrida Okwany granted temporary orders thereby putting a halt to all operations that had started at the sugar mill.
"Pending inter-partes hearing, the court do issue preservation orders stopping any dismantling, stripping, removal, transfer or disposal of any movable assets of Mumias Sugar Company with immediate effect,” the order reads.
Judge Okwany also ordered the return of all movables assets, machinery or equipment that had so far been removed from the premises of Mumias Sugar.
Pending hearing and determination of the matter, the agents and employees of Sarrai Group have been ordered to cease any and all activities, including the operation of the machinery and vandalism of machinery within the premises of Mumias.
The officer commanding Mumias police station has also been ordered to facilitate the safe return of all vandalised and looted assets of the sugar company.
Last week, Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said operations at the sugar mill will begin in two weeks.
The creditors, who include Vartox Resources, Khaminwa and Khaminwa Advocates, Kimeto and Associates Advocates and Wekesa and Simiyu Advocates, have accused Sarrai of mismanaging the company.
They claim Sarrai’s activities have been emboldened by utterances made by politicians in public meetings that no one can stop them from managing the company.
It is their claim that the Ugandan firm wants to smuggle sugar from Uganda and sell it in Mumias Sugar packaging.
“The only source of sugarcane that Sarrai will produce to the general public will be imported sugar smuggled from its factories in Uganda,” court papers read.
“If Sarrai is allowed to continue being in possession of and with no security provided to ensure Mumias assets are not destroyed or stolen, Sarrai will deliver the kiss of death to Mumias leaving it as a shell right before our eyes,” the creditors said.
The Mumias Sugar Company roared back to life after the management of the Sarrai Group started a test run of the mills.
In April this year, the court cancelled the lease awarded to Sarrai, but the company later got stay orders for the judgment by Justice Alfred Mabeya.
The creditors said the Ugandan firm misinterpreted the stay orders, and is stealing machinery and equipment from Mumias.
They said that in June this year, a vehicle belonging to Rai Cement, a company owned by Sarrai Group, went to the sugar mill and removed several machinery, motors and other equipment in unclear circumstances.
The creditors said removal of machinery is happening because there is currently no oversight over the firm's activities, and it is unclear what steps the new administrator has taken to secure the assets of Mumias.
According to the creditors, Sarrai has been operating Mumias Sugar assets without any legal authority. They also accuse them of disobeying court orders.
(edited by Amol Awuor)