Former employees of the now-defunct Nzoia Sugar Company in Bungoma are calling on the government to release unpaid dues after the company closed last year.
Workers say they were promised compensation and opportunities under new terms, but many remain without their payments months later.
The amounts offered to staff are described as far below expectations, with some noting they fall under the minimum wage and are taxed unfairly.
Employees are now urging the government to settle the outstanding packages before the next election cycle.
The situation has left many former staff in financial difficulty, and they are appealing for a swift resolution to long-delayed payments.
Below is what one of the former employees shared regarding the delays and the challenges they have faced while waiting for their dues.
“Hello Cyprian. I have worked with the now-defunct Nzoia Sugar Company in Bungoma since 2011. It was a good employer; I can’t complain, but in the dawn of 2025, the government began to aggressively pursue avenues to let it go. Come May 2025, the company was leased to one Rai, and on 31st October 2025, Nzoia breathed its last. There was a promise to onboard the current employees, of course on new terms. The government still owes us 22 months in terms of salary arrears, severance pay, and provident dues, which in retrospect was made to ensure our calm as we approached 31st October. Cyprian, we have been given offers—eish bro, 11k yani, I wasn’t even paid that when I first joined. Some who were in management received 18,200k, and it’s taxable. Kwanza, that 11k is below minimum wage, and taxing 18k when the tax bracket is at 24k is pure thuggery. Please help the Nzoia Sugar fraternity; we can’t fight the system. We just want our packages from the government treasury, signed 1.9b on 14th November 2025, which I hear is funding the by-elections. We just want the government to honour its part, then we meet in 2027. Thank you.”
