The revival of Sony Sugar Company 2025 Limited has renewed hope among hundreds of workers who endured years of delayed salaries and uncertainty, with employees now reporting timely pay and improved benefits.
The sugar mill, leased to private investor Busia Sugar Industries in May last year, has begun rebuilding its workforce and operations, offering a fresh start to employees who had experienced difficult working conditions during the company's troubled years.
Managing Director Jane Pamela Odhiambo said employee welfare was at the centre of the company's recovery strategy, with timely payment of salaries helping to restore morale among workers.
“We have managed to keep the workers motivated by ensuring that their dues are paid on time. Employee welfare is key to the company's long-term strategy,” Odhiambo said.
Sony Sugar Company 2025 Limited Managing Director Jane Pamela Odhiambo rose through the ranks at the company, and she is now charged with overseeing the revitalisation strategy/COURTESY
At the time the investor took over, the company had about 1,534 permanent and contracted employees, in addition to approximately 100 casual workers involved mainly in grounds maintenance and other support duties.
Odhiambo said the new management undertook a staff rationalisation exercise to create a workforce that was sustainable and affordable while retaining employees with the skills required to run the company.
“Of course, a number of them were not properly deployed because those numbers were bloated. Our strategy was to rationalise the staff so as to reduce the numbers to a level that is sustainable and affordable,” she said.
Following government direction, about 80 per cent of the workforce, translating to approximately 1,239 employees, was retained and onboarded by the new company.
The entire grounds team was also retained because of the importance of their work to the operations.
For workers who survived the company's most difficult years, the changes have brought relief after a prolonged period of financial uncertainty.
Duncan Ochieng, who heads the packaging section, described the period between 2018 and 2020 as among the most difficult in his career, as the company struggled to remain operational.
“During those hard times, payments were delayed. Sometimes we were being paid just a small amount to keep you going. But since the investor took over, we are now getting payment in time,” Ochieng said.
Having spent almost his entire working life at Sony Sugar, Ochieng said the delayed salaries made it difficult for him to meet family responsibilities, including paying school fees.
He said the improvement in working conditions had given employees renewed confidence.
“Our children are going to school. Life is now easier and I think if we continue like this, we will now move to Canaan through Sony and we will be well off and our life will be better,” he said.
Ochieng also welcomed the timely remittance of Social Health Authority contributions, saying workers could now access medical services without the uncertainty they previously faced.
“Now we have an easy time because the SHA is being paid on time. We can access medical cover anytime you feel like and there is no delay in payment of salaries. Things are now okay. Our life is now better,” he said.
Jackline Akoth said employees were initially uncertain about the leasing arrangement but gradually gained confidence in the new management.
She said workers were particularly encouraged by Odhiambo's return to the company, where she had previously worked.
“When we saw that the Managing Director was Madam Jane Pamela, we were very much excited because she had already worked with Sony,” Akoth said.
She said the new management had restored stability and improved relations with employees.
“We haven't missed salary, we've not missed salary and we're not planning to miss salary in the near future. What we are planning to do is to work harder so that the company might go back to where Sony used to be before 2018,” she said.
For the workers, the revival represents more than the return of regular salaries. It signals renewed confidence in a company that has been an important employer and economic anchor in the region.
With improved staff welfare and efforts to rationalise operations, employees now hope the ongoing turnaround will translate into a stronger and more sustainable Sony Sugar.
