A man buys sugar from a supermarket. [Photo/Business Daily]
Two MPs from NASA coalition and Jubilee party, are now requesting the government to end the illegal importation and packaging of sugar in a move to save the ailing local sugar industries.
The MPs, Onyango Koyoo of Muhoroni and Julius Melly of Tinderet said the state-owned sugar millers are suffering from huge influx brought about by the flooding of markets by illegal sugar imports.
The MPs also asked the government to introduce a new cane zoning and review operations of weighing bridges and extension services so as to protect millions of livelihoods depending on the cane production.
Melly further called on the freezing of licenses of the private sugar millers that are cane poaching farmers instead of helping them grow the canes.
“What is the point of poaching cane from farmers you did not fund to grow them. Private millers must grow their own canes,” said Melly.
Koyoo, on the other hand, asked the cabinet secretary for agriculture Willy Bett to gazette regulations that will see streamlining of the sector's operations by ensuring all the importers are taxed to a level playing field for local millers.
He also noted that the imported sugar should be more expensive than the locally produced sugar and not vice versa as currently witnessed.
"Muhoroni, Sony, Miwani, Nzoia and Chemelil factories are heavily indebted. They also operate with the most obsolete equipment. The government should tell sugar industry players why that is the case," said Koyoo.
The sentiments come three months after the government closed the window for the importation of duty-free sugar from non-EAC and non-Comesa countries in order to counter the low sugar production.
According to sugar directorate's report, Kenya's sugar imports increased by 376% to 933,844 tonnes in the first nine months of the year to November from 219,118 recorded last year.
The importation, however, led to drop in prices of a kilo of sugar from Sh 200 to Sh 120 per kilo.