Phase one of Webuye Pan Paper Mills will be officially opened
on December
15, President Uhuru Kenyatta has told Western residents.
Uhuru said, after a tour of the factory on Thursday, that 500 people will be employed in the first round after the factory is revived.
"I wanted to know how far the process has gone so that I am not duped into thinking something is going on," he said.
Uhuru announced plans to reopen the factory in April saying an agreement with a strategic investor had been reached.
The mill was then acquired by Rai Group. The Rai family, who run Raiply and Timsales, acquired the firm and was ready to pump Sh6 billion to revive it.
Uhuru said:
''We have agreed with the Rai family that by June next year, they will have doubled the capacity and the number of people employed here."
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Uhuru said he was committed to seeing the revival of all stalled factory operations in Western and across the country.
Noting job opportunities will be created and the economy boosted, he said their was no need for leaders to engage in retrogressive tribal politics.
''I ask all those who are making noise about this mill, where were they when this factory collapsed?'' he said.
Pan Paper, the largest of its kind in East and Central Africa,
was closed in 2008 after its electricity bills accumulated to more than Sh500 million, under Indian investors who later fled.
The President said he will not engage such leaders in insults but will focus on solving Kenyans' problems.
''We as a country want politics of development that will prosper our young ones so that we can have a better country without any form of discrimination," he said.
Uhuru said in April that the factory, which has been idle for years, will also absorb former employees
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