Farmers in Rift Valley have asked the government to halt any plans to privatise New KCC and instead work to revert the dairy firm to them.
The company has been among those listed for privatisation by the state, but the farmers insist they are the original owners of the company and hence it cannot be sold by the state.
Representatives of the farmers met in Eldoret where they vowed to resist the plan at all costs.
They were led by Rtd Lt Gen Augustine Cheruiyot who once served as chairman of KCC at the time when the company was revived under the regime of former president Mwai Kibaki.
The firm had initially collapsed but was revived by state which took it from the hands of private investors.
The state invested about Sh500 million then to revive it.
Other representatives present included Phillip Korir who is chairman of dairy farmers and Kipkorir Menjo who is a director of the Kenya Farmers Association.
“New KCC has never been owned by the state and it’s wrong for the government to think of privatising what it does not own,” Cheruiyot said.
He said the Sh500 million which the state invested in reviving KCC should be converted to shares as the company is reverted to its owners.
The farmers argue that the dairy company has assets valued at more than Sh30 billion and the government cannot claim to own it by virtue of having invested about Sh500 million.
The said records even within government were clear on how farmers made contributions from their milk payments to develop the company for many years.
“The deductions paid by farmers is clear evidence that New KCC belongs to them,” Korir said.
The dairy company along with Rivatex are among those that had been listed for privatisation.
On Tuesday, the High Court however declared the Privatization Act as unconstitutional and also halted the planned privatisation of KICC.
The court's move has thrown spanner in the privatisation plans.
Cheruiyot said they would use all means possible to block any sale of the company.
He said in any case, the government had been making profits from New KCC operations and should have recovered any money it used to revive the firm.
“The government should simply hand over New KCC to farmers and retain some shares if it is still claiming that investment of about Sh500 million,” Cheruiyot said.
He said farmers were not ready to let go off the company and would guard its assets at all costs.
