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 petitioned the court to temporarily suspend this directive, citing concerns over the secretive bidding process and potential conflict of interest.
The receiver manager, Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao, had invited eight investors, including companies from Russia, Uganda, France, India, and Kenya, to bid for the company.
But Omtatah claims that none of these bidders had the capacity to revive the company, and that the receiver manager's actions were aimed at disposing of the company's assets for personal gain.
He also alleges that the receiver manager has mismanaged the company's ethanol operations, shut down manufacturing, and neglected key assets, including the Nucleus Estate and machinery.
As a result, the company has made huge losses due to the deterioration of its assets, and the neglected estate poses a danger to the public.
Omtatah argues that the receiver manager's actions are not in the best interest of the company, its owners, or the public, and that a public interest arises in how the receiver manager is running the company.
