{"id":120221,"date":"2025-08-23T11:04:37","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/08\/23\/nyongo-protests-direct-betrayal-as-leased-sugar-mills-declare-mass-layoffs\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T11:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:04:37","slug":"nyongo-protests-direct-betrayal-as-leased-sugar-mills-declare-mass-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/nyongo-protests-direct-betrayal-as-leased-sugar-mills-declare-mass-layoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Nyong\u2019o protests \u2018direct betrayal\u2019 as leased sugar mills declare mass layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 23 \u2014 Kisumu Governor Anyang\u2019 Nyong\u2019o has urged the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s Principal Secretary, Kipronoh Ronoh, to immediately revoke the approval of redundancies in the four state-owned sugar mills leased to private investors.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o warned that the unilateral decision risks triggering chaos in the sector, undermining the government\u2019s sugar industry revival agenda.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is a direct betrayal of the spirit and intent of the sugar sector revival program,\u201d the governor said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He noted that the leasing of Chemelil, Muhoroni, SoNY, and Nzoia sugar factories was designed to revive the sector, enhance efficiency, and improve workers\u2019 welfare.<\/p>\n

Approving mass layoffs, he argued, fundamentally contradicts that promise and threatens to destabilize an already fragile industry.<\/p>\n

The governor reiterated the national government\u2019s commitment to clear outstanding dues owed to mill workers, pointing out that employees have recently staged demonstrations demanding salary arrears before declaration of redundancies.<\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o, who has previously backtracked on some sugar sector reforms, criticized the approval as insensitive and unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, it is disconcerting that a decision with such profound and devastating impacts on the economies of several counties [was] taken without any consultation with the respective county governments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Devolved function <\/h2>\n

He described the move as a blatant disregard of the principles of cooperative governance, stressing that sugar is a devolved function.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe livelihoods of thousands of our citizens are not a matter to [be] decided unilaterally from an office in Nairobi,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Nyong\u2019o urged the PS to rescind the approval and convene an urgent meeting involving the Ministry of Agriculture, the Council of Governors, and workers\u2019 representatives to chart a way forward.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he proposed that the National Treasury release funds to settle all outstanding arrears owed to workers and the factories.<\/p>\n

The government has already finalized a 30-year lease agreement with private millers to run the four sugar factories, a deal expected to usher in greater efficiency, productivity, and financial sustainability in a sector that has long struggled with losses.<\/p>\n

The redundancy clause was explicitly provided for in the lease agreement and endorsed by the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 23 \u2014 Kisumu Governor Anyang\u2019 Nyong\u2019o has urged the Ministry of Agriculture\u2019s Principal Secretary, Kipronoh Ronoh, to immediately revoke the approval of redundancies in the four state-owned sugar mills leased to private investors. Nyong\u2019o warned that the unilateral decision risks triggering chaos in the sector, undermining the government\u2019s sugar industry revival agenda. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}