Kisumu Deputy Governor Dr Ochieng' Owili, during a privatization stakeholders' meeting at the Royal Swiss Hotel in Kisumu on Friday, January 19, 2018. [Photo/ Eddy Illah]

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Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang' Nyong'o has opposed a move by the national government to privatise sugar companies in the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB).

The Governor said he will not support any privatisation that isolates the farmers and fall short of addressing pertinent issues affecting the sugar industry.

In a statement read by his deputy Dr Ochieng' Owili, Nyong'o demanded that all the opaque owners of the companies should be disclosed. 

"Any proposal of privatization must prioritise the interest of farmers and the community surrounding the firms," he said.

Owili read the statement during a privatisation stakeholders' meeting at the Royal Swiss Hotel in Kisumu, which was attended by Lake Region governors, national and county government officials, as well as other stakeholders, particularly the farmers.

Nyong'o said privatisation of any state corporation is a serious undertaking that requires full consideration and elaborate planning, taking into account various elements that may go wrong and undermine the privatisation process or eliminate the value of the exercise altogether. 

"In the case of the sugar factories, we have a lot to think about and do, since the Transition Authority and the Inter-Governmental Technical Committee have not applied themselves fully to this question to propose solutions, perhaps for good reason," said Nyongo’ on Friday.

The county boss suggested a number of issues that should preoccupy the two levels of government and among the non-state actors. 

According to him, key issues in the privatization of sugar factories include:

1. What will be guiding framework for the privatization process?

2. Who will be the key actors in that process, and what will their roles be?

3. How do we prepare the sugar industry for the process, to a good start rather than a false one? This includes the question of how we make the sugar factories, and indeed the industry, attractive to potential private investors. 

4. What are the technical and socio-political elements of a proper privatization process and how do we realize those? 

The meeting was chaired by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett.

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