The troubles at the financially struggling Mumias Sugar Company deepened on Tuesday after Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) appointed a receiver manager to take over operations of the miller.
In a move that took the management and workers at the sugar factory by surprise, the bank appointed Mr Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao of Tact Consultancy Services as the receiver manager.
Mr Rao visited the factory yesterday and served management officials with documents on the latest developments at the miller.
Mr Rao met the the acting head of Human Resource John Shiundu and served him with the documents relating to the receivership.
But Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala vowed to challenge the move.
A letter from Tact Consultancy Services dated September 24, read in part: “Pursuant to the powers conferred by the debenture and by law, KCB Bank Kenya Limited appointed Ponangipalli Venkata Ramana Rao of Tact Consultancy Services of PO Box 51-00623 Nairobi, Kenya (Receiver), as Receiver Manager of Mumias Sugar Company Limited on 20th September 2019.”
The latest development has dashed hope of ongoing plans by the Kakamega County government to revive the ailing miller. The entry of the receiver manager is set to jolt plans to turn around the fortunes of the miller.
In the letter, the receiver manager said: “Please note that none of the directors, shareholders, employees nor any other person is authorized to transact any business on behalf of the company without express written consent from the receiver.”
The management of the miller has been asked to submit the statement of company affairs from the date of the appointment of the receiver. They are further required to provide a list of movable and immovable assets (including private and commercial vehicles) together with details of encumbrances.
The also required to submit original deeds of the properties, original log books for vehicles and movable assets among other details.
This comes after County chief Wycliffe Oparanya unveiled a report three weeks ago prepared by a
taskforce comprising of a team from the county government detailing a revival strategy for the miller.
Governor Oparanya said the county government would Governor Oparanya said the County government will push for the appointment of an administrator to protect the ailing miller from being wound up.
The county chief said implementation of the report will be done through the relevant departments at the sugar factory.
Mr Oparanya has further pledged to ensure influential individuals involved in the plunder of resources at sugar factory including former managers and politicians.
To protect assets belonging to the miller, the county government plans to place a caveat on all land transactions.
The report will be presented to the county assembly for debate and approval before it is implemented.
Mr Oparanya who is the chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG) said the county government was working closely with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to ensure resources which were looted are recovered and ploughed back to salvage the fortunes of the miller.
Another key proposal involves the plan by the county government to fund the preparation and lobbying of the Sugar Bill, 2019 to be presented to the National Assembly for enactment into law to protect the industry from collapse.
“The county government commits to consider in the upcoming supplementary budget, to establish a fund that will take care of cane development at a conceived budget of Sh 100,000 per hectare. We will also reorganise agribusiness in the county to have a fully-fledged department to take care of cane development,” said Mr Oparanya.
Governor Oparanya has further announced that the county government will support cane development programme to ensure the miller has adequate raw material to resume milling operations.
Mr Oparanya said the county government will appoint a caretaker committee in consultation with key stakeholders to oversee implementation of the report.
“We will review existing sugar fund regulations to align them to the taskforce recommendations,” said Mr Oparanya.
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