Sugarcane farmers oppose bill shifting lending powers to KADCO

Sugarcane farmers in Muhoroni and Chemelil have come out against a proposed law they say would derail current reforms, take decisions away from growers and revive the problems that held the sugar industry back for years.

The Crops Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, is sponsored by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah. It would change the Sugar Act of 2024, the law governing the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) and the Tea Act. Its central proposal is to take lending powers from KALRO, the Kenya Sugar Board and the Tea Board of Kenya and give them to the Kenya Agribusiness Development Corporation (KADCO), a limited company established under the Government Owned Enterprises Act of 2025.

Growers and industry representatives raised their objections at public hearings run by the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock in the two sugar zones. Many questioned why the changes are being pushed now, arguing that the existing law should first be fully put into practice.

Atiang Atiang, who chairs the Kenya Association of Sugarcane and Allied Products (KASAP), said the Sugar Act has not even been fully rolled out. He noted that elections to pick members of the Sugar Board are still awaited. “The Sugar Board is yet to be constituted. We are waiting for the elections to elect board members. What is the sense of bringing amendments to an Act that you yourselves enacted and have not seen implemented?” he asked.

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Atiang also compared KADCO to the old Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), which he blamed for pushing the sector to the brink and leaving farmers unpaid. He said the new body would not speak for growers. In Chemelil, Mboya Kagumba, a former Kenya Sugar Board director representing growers from the Chemelil, Nandi Hills and Soin zones, drew a similar lesson from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA). According to him, the creation of that authority brought the sugar sector close to collapse, and KADCO risks repeating it.

Maurice Omondi, a farmer with a disability who represents the Muhoroni branch of the farmers’ federation, shared those fears. He said the proposed model mirrors weaknesses in earlier laws and could let cartels return. Like Atiang, he asked Parliament to give the Sugar Act time to work.

Gerald Ruto of the Rift Valley Sugarcane Planters Association turned to funding. He said a four per cent levy now supports the sector and reaches farmers directly, so shifting the related duties to another entity could cut that benefit. He also asked how the expertise built up in existing agencies would be kept. Running the industry from Nairobi, away from growers, goes against the principle of devolution, he argued, and he proposed reviving farmers’ societies to work with the Kenya Sugar Board.

Zedekiah Okene, who chairs the Kisumu Sugar Belt Union, wondered why reforms meant for farmers keep being interrupted. In his view, each time the sector starts to improve, outside forces step in and growers suffer.

Nick Oloo, an advocate representing the Kibos and Chemelil sugar millers, faulted the Government for acting first and thinking later. “It is alarming that the Government has perfected the art of shooting and then aiming later,” he said.

Oloo argued that the Bill does not reflect what the public wants and that Parliament should weigh people’s concerns when making laws. He added that the Sugar Development Fund (SDF) manual and the current Sugar Act already cover issues the Bill seeks to address. For that reason, he said, there is no policy need to alter how the sector is financed.

By Benedict Aoya

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