Kisumu — The Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers (KUSPAW) are doubtful of another round of push by the national government to privatize the five sugar mills as they demand inclusion in the whole process.
The Union General Secretary Francis Wangara says earlier attempts to privatize or lease the mills hit a snag giving farmers and workers false hopes.
Wangara says privatization of the mills is the only way out to bail the factories out of the challenges that have affected their full operations.
"We believe that this is a good intended purpose but we don't know if it will work out," he said.
He said the mills require huge amounts of money to turn them around while hailing the previous government for putting them on track.
Further, he noted the mills are currently viable and when put up for privatization will fetch good money.
Addressing a press conference in Kisumu on Thursday, Wangara said the voice of the workers must be prioritized or else they stop the process once again in court.
"Our stand as workers is that we must be involved in all stages of privatization," he said.
The Union went to court in July last year as the government pushed for the leasing of the mills after abandoning the privatization path.
Wangara announced that the last time they computed the arrears owed to the workers by the mills, it was standing at Sh5.6 billion.
He said workers stand to lose greatly if their interests and concerns are not addressed during the privatization process.
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"Right now I know the arrears has grown to around over Sh6 billion and that is why we must be on the privatization table to articulate and push our issues for the interest of the workers," he said.
Following President William Ruto's directive, the Privatization Commission had listed among other firms, five state-owned sugar mills which include Nzoia, Chemelil, SoNY, Miwani and Muhoroni to be placed for privatization.
According to the Commission, the objective of the privatization of the mills is to allow the government to meet the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) sugar safeguard commitments.
The Commission outlined that they will be seeking to privatize Nzoia to allow the government to address the excess debt situation and mobilize resources to support expansion and modernization programs while in SoNY the funds raised will help in rehabilitating the mill.
For Chemelil, the government will mobilize resources to support expansion and modernization programs for the company, while in Miwani it will address excess debts and financial and human resource needs.
Miwani went into receivership in the early 1990s, with Muhoroni which took over its operations seeking financial injection to restructure its operations and address debts besides strengthening its human resource base.
Wangara warned the national government to be wary of cartels who will sabotage the privatization process while the farmers and workers continue to suffer.
"There are people who must benefit from this process to make it legitimate. We want a proper competition, and new investors to invest in these mills," he said.
