Kenya: Millers Worried about Deal with Uganda

By David Wamuha

Sugar Millers in Kenya are a worried lot following bilateral trade deals made between Kenya and Uganda by the two countries’ Presidents, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda over the weekend on August 8 in Uganda.

The deals were made on a three day visit to the neighboring Uganda by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta where he signed a deal allowing Uganda to import cheap sugar to Kenya. Uganda also agreed to import beef and dairy products to Kenya. The deal which was meant to solve the long-standing none-tariff barriers that have impeded export of beef and dairy products to Uganda was not given much thought until the Kenyan opposition leader Mr. Raila Odinga questioned the benefits of the deal to the local farmers.

Mr. Odinga criticized the President saying the deal of importing cheap sugar from Uganda would see local millers collapse as they are not in a good state as it is. He further questioned the pact that allows Kenya to export beef and dairy products to Uganda, arguing that Kenya is unable to produce enough of the products for local consumption, let alone export to other countries. He went on to say that these deals were made in secret and individual business gains are way bigger than the national good.

The only deal that the President made that was of national good according to Mr. Odinga was that of constructing a sh400 billion pipeline to transport oil from Albertine to Lokichar in Turkana county.

Local millers which are currently on their knees due to poor management and lack of payment may have received their final blow after the deal for cheaper sugar from Uganda was made. This has discouraged sugar cane farmers in mumias and other leading places in sugarcane farming as they fear they might not get the full returns for the hard work they put in the farms as they still struggle with poor pay. Faced with competition from the cheap sugar, local millers will find it hard to get back up as they are still struggling with poor old technology and inefficient processes that make their product far more expensive.

Figures released by the Kenya sugar board (KSB) showed that Kenya will fail to meet its target of sugarcane by 900,000 tonnes which is equivalent to 88, 00 tonnes of processed sugar. Though the government gave 1billion shillings to the mumias sugar company which is the leading sugar company in Kenya, critics say that that the jubilee government can no longer control the flooding of cheap sugar flowing into the country.

President Uhuru yesterday however defended his deal saying he would much rather import sugar from Uganda than Brazil. He went on to say that claims by critics that the deal would undermine local farmers are unfounded. He said that the opposition should also be on the forefront on supporting the development agenda rather than criticizing for the sake of it.

It is however not clear why the president would give sh1billion to mumias Sugar Company to get back on its feet then strikes a deal with neighboring Uganda.