Senate rejects privatization of state owned sugar millers – KBC

The Senate Tourism, Trade and Industrialization Committee has rejected privatization  of five state-owned sugar millers arguing that the move will deepen further the woes of farmers in the country.

The firms which include Sony, Nzoia, Chemelil, Miwani and Muhoroni have a combined total asset amounting to 21.15 billion and 63.18 billion shillings in liabilities.

The National Treasury put the net worth of the five at Kshs 42 billion.

However the road to putting the companies into private hands could now hit a dead-end as the Senate Tourism, Trade and Industrialization Committee read mischief.

The privatization of the millers has also faced opposition from sugarcane farmers across the country terming the move as ill advised.

Treasury says the Privatization Commission has hired a transaction advisor for some of the businesses in the tourism industry and is now looking to identify a strategic investor within the next couple of months to help in the privatization process.