This archive report was first published on 10 January 2020.
On January 10, 2020, a devastating fire swept through Mumias Sugar Company's nucleus estate, destroying over seven acres of valuable sugarcane. The fire, which was reported by security officers on patrol, resulted in significant losses for the company, with over 45 tonnes of sugarcane destroyed.
According to Boniface Makhandia, the firm's agriculture manager, the fire was quickly contained by Mumias Sugar Company workers. 'We were informed of smoke coming from block F in Busambe area. We put the fire off before it burnt the whole estate,' Mr Makhandia said.
The company had earlier received intelligence suggesting that some individuals opposed to the recent sale of sugarcane to other local millers had planned an arson attack. The sale of mature sugarcane from the nucleus estate to other millers began in late 2019.
Notably, this is not the first time Mumias Sugar Company has suffered a significant loss due to fire. In February 2019, the company lost over Sh14 million when sugarcane in 500 acres was burnt in six separate fire incidents.
Mumias West Sub-county police commander Peter Kattam confirmed that investigations were underway to determine the cause of the fire. The company, which is currently under receivership by Kenya Commercial Bank, is being managed by Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao and is in the process of producing ethanol.
