The Kisumu County Government led by Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o is pushing back against the national government’s move to lease Chemelil and Muhoroni sugar mills, citing legal violations and the threat of monopolization that could harm farmers and public assets.
- •The Ministry of Agriculture plans to lease Chemelil Sugar Factory to Kibos Sugar & Allied Industries Ltd and Muhoroni Sugar Company to West Valley Sugar Company, each for a 30-year period.
- •Nyong’o said that the process has advanced without public consultation or involvement from the County Government, farmers, or workers’ unions, despite the public interest at stake.
- •At full capacity, the sugar industry can produce over 1.3 million metric tonnes but it currently only utilises 70% of the installed processing capacity.
“This ill-conceived leasing agenda is not just illegal; it is a threat to land rights, community cohesion, and the future of the sugar industry in Kisumu,” Governor Nyong’o said in a statement.
“The 30-year leases will disenfranchise local farmers, robbing them of land and economic autonomy. This is unconstitutional and violates Articles 10, 11, 60, and 62 which guarantee public participation, transparency, and land protection”
According to Governor Nyong’o, the privatisation plan is an economic coup that will facilitate elite capture and reversing previous judicial victories that safeguarded public ownership. He argues that the lack of transparency breached constitutional provisions and procurement laws that mandate open, accountable management of public resources.
In the same statement, Nyong’o questioned the financial and operational capacity of the two leasing companies-Kibos was incorporated 16 years ago, and West Valley is five years old.
The county government also claims that prime land belonging to Miwani Sugar Mills — spanning approximately 15,000 hectares — is being transferred to Crossley Holdings Limited through opaque means, despite ongoing court cases and a prior High Court decision in 2023 that blocked a similar tender.
The alleged out-of-court resolution involved a deal between Crossley Holdings and a receiver manager, prompting further alarm over a potential land grab that affects more than 60,000 farmers and jeopardizes critical infrastructure located on the factory land.
The land parcels—2,779 hectares in Chemelil, 1,600 in Muhoroni, and 11,000 in Miwani — are designated public land administered by the National Land Commission but held in trust by County Governments. The county says that the Leasing Transition Committee, which oversees the privatization, lacks representation from the devolved units, further eroding local oversight.
“Agriculture is a devolved function under Schedule 4 of the Constitution. Any national action excluding County input is unconstitutional,” Nyong’o said.
Meanwhile, the Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers and the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers (KUSPAWU) have expressed support for the government’s lease plan of sugar factories in the Western-Nyanza belt. In a meeting last week with Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, they were optimistic that the lease would revitalize sugar production in the region after years of mismanagement and operational decay.
The Ministry of Agriculture estimates that the sugar industry supports the livelihoods of at least 17% of the Kenyan population. It is a dominant employer and source of livelihoods for most households in 15 counties in Kenya traversing Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western and Coast regions.
