Sugarcane growers to move to court over orders freezing Sugar Board funds

The Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (KESGA)Secretary Richard Ogendo addressing the media in Kisumu. Faith Matete 

The Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (KESGA) has announced plans to move to court to challenge orders freezing the operations of the Kenya Sugar Board, warning that the directives are paralysing the industry and threatening ongoing government-led reforms. 

Addressing the media in Kisumu on Monday, KESGA Secretary Richard Ogendo said recent court orders issued in Kisii barring the Board from spending any funds had crippled a critical statutory institution charged with stabilising and reforming the sugar sector. 

The association accused a small group of what it termed “self-appointed farmer leaders” of using litigation to derail reforms, saying the cases were not driven by the interests of ordinary farmers.

“These repeated court cases are not organic farmer-driven actions. We have credible reasons to believe they are being sponsored and facilitated by private millers seeking to advance their own commercial interests, using a few individuals as fronts,” Ogendo said

Of particular concern, the association said, were demands by some individuals to personally control and benefit from the five per cent sugar levy, which was established to support sector-wide development, farmer welfare and institutional reforms.

 “The levy was created to support the entire industry, not to serve private or individual interests. There is no clear legal framework, accountability structure or industry-wide consensus to justify such demands,” the statement said. 

KESGA warned that the court orders freezing the Sugar Board’s expenditure had a punitive effect, effectively preventing the institution from executing its statutory mandate. 

“If a statutory body is not allowed to carry out its mandate, then the question is why it exists in the first place,” Ogendo said, adding that the paralysis had stalled critical interventions meant to stabilise the sector. 

The growers’ body said the disruptions directly undermine President William Ruto’s agenda on agricultural transformation, value-chain reforms and farmer empowerment, noting that uncertainty risks reversing gains already made.

 KESGA further alleged that private millers who have long resisted reforms were now attempting to derail the process, despite benefiting from government decisions that allowed private operators to run state-owned sugar mills. 

“It defeats all logic that the same private interests that benefited from government reforms are now undermining the same administration that entrusted them with these factories,” he said. 

The group defended the current leadership of the Kenya Sugar Board, noting that the Board is chaired by a presidential appointee, Engineer Nicholas Gumbo, and led by Acting Chief Executive Officer Jude Chesire whom it credited with steering reforms in line with the President’s agenda.

 KESGA cautioned that continued paralysis of the Board would cripple the sugar industry, delay reforms, weaken farmer support systems and expose genuine farmers to exploitation. 

In response, the association said it would move to court to seek the lifting of the orders, with the aim of restoring the Board’s operational capacity and safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods and the future of the industry. 

KESGA also called on genuine farmer representatives to reject what it described as proxy schemes driven by private interests, urged government institutions to firmly defend the mandate of the Kenya Sugar Board, and appealed to the Judiciary to consider the broader public interest and economic consequences of decisions that immobilise statutory bodies.

“The sugar industry must not be held hostage by private interests operating through proxies,” said Ogendo.