Muhoroni MP Onyango Koyoo has asked Agriculture PS Kipronoh Rono to clarify the criteria used by the government to refund arrears owed to workers at two local sugar plants.
Koyoo wrote to Rono, requesting him to explain how the government calculated the debt owed to workers at Muhoroni and Chemelil Sugar firms which are in his constituency.
He raised concerns that the two factories might have received unfair treatment during the transaction.
Koyoo said the government provided Sh150 million to Nzoia Sugar Company to clear salary arrears.
Four additional businesses, including Sony, Chemelil and Muhoroni, and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, received Sh150 million to share among them.
A July 5 circular indicated that the government allocated Sh654 million for sugar reforms in the financial year 2023-2024 Supplementary Budget II.
In the circular to the Agricultural Food and Authority managing director, Rono said Sh354 million of the Sh654 million will offset debts owed to sugarcane farmers, with Sh150 million set aside for Nzoia Sugar Company employees.he
The PS said Sh150 million will fund one-month wages for Chemelil, Sony and Muhoroni sugar companies and Kalro's efforts to multiply new sugarcane seedlings.
Addressing representatives of the workers' union at the CDF office in Chemelil, Koyoo said the payment showed obvious favouritism towards workers in other areas.
Koyoo questioned the reasoning behind designating Sh150 million for the three factories—Chemelil, Sony, Muhoroni, and Kalro—and Sh150 million for the arrears owed by Nzoia employees.
"We want to know why workers in three factories are receiving little compared to their counterparts in Nzoia,” he said.
He requested that the government treat sugarcane farmers and workers equally.
“We do not dispute that workers and farmers in Nzoia are Kenyans, just as those from Muhoroni and Sony, but the government should be fair in offsetting the arrears,” he said.
“The taxes we pay are used to run all the state-owned mills in the country, which requires equality in supporting the factories, farmers, and workers without favouritsm,” he added.
He said the amounts allocated by the government directly affect the performance of sugar factories.
“We welcome the timely gesture in the disbursement of funds to farmers and workers, but we must be told why our farmers and workers have received meagre payments of the owed arrears,” he said.
He asked the PS to furnish the outstanding bills owed to vendors.
Chemelil owes its workers Sh1.6 billion in salary arrears, with creditors owed more than Sh350 million. About 700 people work for the company on a contract and permanent basis.
Muhoroni Sugar Company owes its workers at least Sh1.1 billion in salary arrears. The firm's general manager, Vitalis Oduor, said he was in a meeting and would respond later, but did not.
Dennis Asembo, branch secretary of the Muhoroni Workers' Union, warned that unfairness in clearing the arrears could cause disunity in the country.
“We accept the meagre payments we have received from the government, but there are a lot of discrepancies. They should handle the workers, farmers, and factories equally like a father and not divide the people in the sugar sector,” he said, adding that workers will not support any attempts to divide them.
“Let them plan even if they are paying the arrears in installments. They should do so openly and not in an amorphous and blind way without knowing the total arrears and what is being paid. That is unacceptable,” he said.
The government, Asembo said, should have a standard procedure to offset the debts.