Narok Senator, Ledama Ole Kina, caused controversy in Parliament with controversial remarks on sugarcane farming.
The senator opined that he looked forward to the day Kisumu and other parts of the country would stop planting sugarcane.
“I consider sugarcane as a poor man’s crop, and I will be a very happy man the day farmers in Kenya, and particularly in Kisumu, would move away from sugar planting,” Ole Kina told the senate on Thursday, November 17.
According to the second-term senator, Kenya was yet to do substantial research on sugarcane and had not utilised all the products from the plant.
“We have a big challenge in this country. We have never researched all products we can produce using the sugarcane bagasse,” Ole Kina expounded.
The vocal senator noted that sugar factories collapse because the plant is a seasonal crop.
“I call it a lazy man’s crop because a farmer will plant and wait for 18 months so as to harvest,” he added.
He called for uprooting the crop in all sugar farms in the country, according to the legislator.
“If we move away from sugar and we go into corn production, we can be able to produce enough animal feeds for our country,” Ole Kina offered his solution.
The senator was responding to a motion presented by his Kisumu colleague, Prof Tom Ojienda, where he sought an investigation into the plight farmers and the sugar industry face.
“I seek that the committee investigates the persistent challenges surrounding policy formulation, management of sugar factories and financial woes.
“They have led to declining of sugar production and closure of sugar factories in Kisumu County,” Ojienda announced while moving his motion.
On Friday, November 11, Kakamega Senator, Boni Khalwale, issued an update on the revival of Mumias Sugar Company.
The company, currently managed by new investors, resumed operations employing 800 out of 5,000 targeted staff. Khalwale stated that its revival offered hope to thousands of jobless youth and farmers in the region.
President William Ruto’s administration initiated plans to privatise public companies to cut down on expenditures and tame borrowing.
Mumias Sugar was one of the companies listed for privatisation before a new investor took charge.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE