Conflict of interest between the board of directors and the management team at Mumias Sugar Company is undermining efforts to bring the ailing miller back to its feet.
The House Committee on Implementation expressed concern over what it termed turf wars between managers and members of the board at Mumias.
"We have established a conflict between the board and the management team at Mumias. This is likely to curtail the revival process of the firm," committee vice chairman Godfrey Osotsi said.
Speaking when the committee visited the factory on Wednesday, Mr Osotsi said the team was following up on the report released by the House's Agriculture committee in 2016 to ensure key proposals on how to resuscitate the firm are implemented.
CORRUPTION
The MPs, however, encouraged farmers to continue growing cane, promising them a brighter future in the industry.
"Even though plans to ensure recovery of the sugar sector have been on for many years, efforts to save the ailing sugar industry are still rife," Nyando MP Jared Okello said.
Committee chairman Moitelel Ole Kenta said they have so far met all State agencies and key stakeholders in the sugar industry to find out what was ailing the sector.
Mr Kenta regretted that former managers at Mumias contributed to its downfall when it was catering for the livelihood of thousands of Kenyans who depended on the factory.
"It's so unfortunate that one or two people put Mumias in the state it is today. Such people need to be forced to return the loot they took from the miller," the Narok North MP said.
FINANCE
Mr Kenta noted that besides the biting cane shortage, the company is also grappling with challenges associated with financial management.
Sugarcane farmers, who met the committee at Oketch Park in Mumias, want county governments given support by the National Treasury to rescue ailing sugar millers.
The National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers chairman Ibrahim Juma argued that governors should be given support to revive the collapsing industry because agriculture is a devolved function.
The farmers also demanded the removal of the diffuser at Mumias and called for reintroduction of the operating mill that was sold in 2009.
One of them, Mr Sebio Kweyu, challenged the committee to ensure the views they were collecting from stakeholders were given consideration during implementation of measures aimed at reviving the miller.
