MUNDALO: Privatisation of Nzoia Sugar Company: Hit or Miss?

_{By Mundalo M Advice.}
Teargas is a rare occurrence within the streets of Bungoma County because in the nature of the people, we speak no harm, cause no harm & court no harm, We are the perfect manifestation of ‘ Peace, Love & Unity ‘ This safety net has however been bursted in recent days majorly led by leaders from the neighbouring TransNoia County on the subject of Privatisation of Nzoia Sugar Company by the National Government.

Let me provide context, it’s integral to understand that both the Workers & Farmers in Bungoma have barely received their money both in Salary & payments for over 36 months except for the relief that came following President William Samoei Ruto visit in the 2024 Madaraka Day that saw the country treated to the best National Day Entertainment since independence.

I digress. Now, after years of delayed payments and broken promises, the crisis has reached a tipping point. We have lost many to death due to frustration that led to their disillusionment that led them to depression and many to alcoholism that consumed their lives. The hardship is palpable.

Through this tumultuous moment for the people of Bungoma, barely did any of our leaders make any attempts to speak to this problem that slowly but surely consumed the people. The immense pain of thousands has gone largely unacknowledged in the public sphere.

Even during presidential visits, the plight of Nzoia through the lens of our own leaders barely made it beyond fleeting mentions.

President William Samoei Ruto spoke of the problem of Nzoia more than local leaders did, unlike in Kakamega where the subject is critical even in burial ceremonies & market centers, in Bungoma, the topic has remained a cold stone throughout with the workers only victims of their own fate & their challenges left to the hands of preying shylocks in Bungoma town to whom most workers have surrendered including their beddings for survival loans. All this time, NOBODY cared, NOBODY spoke.

With the problem a growing concern, the Government choice to privatise the mill did not come as a secret, for context, it’s important to understand that the process of privatisation of Public utilities can not be a dark Web operation, it includes Public participation and the open floating of lease tender to the public for those interested to bid.

In the Nzoia case, the Public Participation was gazetted and happened not only in Bungoma but in neighbouring counties too.

The process attracted litigation through which the courts weighed in to affirm the process’s legality. A lease tender was floated on all dailies for those with the capacity to take up the plant to express interest.

All this time , the silence in our leaders was deafening. The Rai group won the bid competitively, promising to inject new capital, improve management, and ensure timely payments to farmers and workers. None of those who lost the bid raised an alarm of unfairness, nor did they go to court. It’s at this point that noise and tension from the blues started.

Suddenly, those whose silence was loud in the lowest moments of the farmers and workers regained their power of speech. Those silent in the phase of decline of the company now have a voice.

They now know that it is VERY WRONG to privatise Nzoia, they now beat the drums of ownership , they say, ‘ that the Company belongs to the people’ even as the very people continue to go unpaid and families struggle.

I ASK.

1. Where were they when the farmer and worker suffered for over three years minus pay to the point of depression & death of others?
2. Where were they during the entire process of privatisation that they resurrected at its tail end to now purport to know how ill it is for the people??
3. Can the TransNzoia leaders led by Hon. Eugene Wamalwa & Governor Natembea who seem to ‘ Care more ‘ about Bungoma people explain to us how Rai is bad for Bungoma but good for TransNozia since he is the same one paying their farmers every two weeks??
4. How have leaders who long ignored Bungoma’s suffering now claim to protect its interests?In the government where Hon.Eugene served in cabinet and Hon. Natembeya was regional commissioner, did Nzoia get on its feet?

I opine to my people of Bungoma, the workers and farmers, Do not be pawns in political games. Refuse to be dragged into unnecessary politics of supremacy at the altar of your wellbeing. If privatisation means workers & farmers getting all their payments & subsequent timeliness in their pay after every two weeks, How can that be a bad thing? Why are some leaders insistent on dancing on the graves of the poverty of the people and condemning us to absolute poverty to settle political scores?

The truth is stark. Nzoia Sugar Company is not owned by the people if it starves them. Sentiment wont buy medicine nor pay school fees. Our People Need Money in their Pockets, and fruits for their labour not pride and empty sloganeering that runs them to depression , poverty and death.

The National Government under President William Ruto is right. The county government under Lusaka is right. They have chosen progress for the people.The rest are dishonest politicians on the usual Political dancing floor of absolute convenience with total disregard to the people.

They remain caught in a political spectacle, long absent when the crisis began. The people of Bungoma will embrace a future where Nzoia can once again be a lifeline, not a lament.

_{Mundalobahati@gmail.com}