Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has accused the Jubilee administration of coming up with policies that are meant to hurt the country's sugar sector. 

Share news tips with us here at Hivisasa

This comes after the  Agriculture and Food Authority indicated that sugar prices are set to shoot up globally due to a decline in supply.

But according to Khalwale, the move by the government to import cheap sugar from countries such as Uganda has led to cartels holding large amounts of sugar in warehouses before setting high prices to benefit themselves. 

Khalwale made the remarks on Citizen TV's interview show on Thursday morning.

According to Citizen Digital, this year, Kenya has imported 200,000 metric tonnes of sugar in an effort to protect its sugar sector.

"The current report that sugar prices will shoot up is as a result of poor policies put forth by the Jubilee administration in the country. There was no need to import sugar from countries like Uganda while there are sugar farmers and millers in the country.  The rise in prices is as a result of poor sugar policies and this is unfortunate," said Khalwale.

According to AFA, the prices of sugar have gone up over the last three months due to low supply from producers.

AFA director general Alfred Busolo told Citizen Digital that the government could be forced to import more in 2017 in a bid to meet the demand.

Already, the price for a tonne of sugar from Comesa has risen to Sh75,000 from Sh50,000 due to the shortage.