This archive report was first published on 18 June 2021.
On June 9, 2021, the Senate's Agriculture Committee directed the receiver manager to re-advertise the bid to salvage Mumias Sugar Company within 14 days.
However, activist Okiya Omtatah has moved to court seeking to temporarily suspend this directive, alleging that the receiver manager, Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao, is engaged in a secretive bidding process.
According to Omtatah, Rao had secretly invited eight investors, including Catalysis Group of Russia, Sarrai Group of Uganda, and Kibos Sugar and Devki Group, to bid for the company.
But Omtatah claims that none of these bidders had the capacity to revive the company, and that Rao's actions were aimed at disposing of the company to his cronies for a song.
He also alleged that Rao had mismanaged the ethanol operations and shut them down in March 2021, halting all manufacturing operations at the company.
Furthermore, Omtatah claimed that Rao had neglected many assets of Mumias Sugar Company, including the Nucleus Estate and machinery, resulting in the company making huge losses due to the deterioration of the assets.
