This archive report was first published on 18 June 2021.
On June 9, 2021, the Senate's Agriculture Committee directed the receiver manager, Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao, 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 Rao engaged in a secretive bidding process and invited eight investors, including Catalysis Group of Russia and Devki Group of Kenya, without proper planning or transparency.
According to Omtatah, Rao failed to publish a general statement of affairs on the assets and liabilities of the company, as well as periodic reports on efforts to reduce the KCB Group debt responsible for the receivership.
Omtatah also claims that Rao neglected many assets of Mumias Sugar Company, including the Nucleus Estate and machinery, resulting in huge losses due to the deterioration of the assets.
The neglected assets, especially the nucleus estate, pose a danger to the public, Omtatah adds.
He argues that the receiver manager has failed in his mission to protect the company's assets and maintain its operations, instead shutting down the company and putting the Mumias Sugar Scheme at risk.
