Former Sports CS Rashid Echesa has said that President Uhuru Kenyatta is to blame for sugar woes affecting sugarcane farmers in Kenya.
Echesa said the bilateral talks between President Kenyatta and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni is meant to kill the sugar industry in Kenya, as Kenyatta family takes monopoly of the dairy industry.
“They want to sell the companies just like they did with Pan-Paper which was sold to Rai who has since converted it into go-downs to store his sugar. Uhuru lied to Museveni when he asked him about the Pan-Paper mill, that it was being revived when he knows very well that he sold it to his friend,” he said.
His sentiments were supported by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who felt that Kenya was shortchanged in the Kenya-Uganda talks.
“Kenya got a very bad trade deal from Uganda bilateral negotiations. Our farmers were left dead. But when Museveni went for a lecture at Kenyatta University, the students did not chant “Take back your sugar, milk, poultry, eggs,tiles & dry port” Instead they shouted “Bobi Wine!”,” said Kuria.
In a press release issued by Museveni, the Head of State was glad to inform his citizens that following the talks, Kenya had agreed to increase its sugar exports from 36,000 metric tonnes to 90,000 metric tonnes annually.
He also noted that Ugandan dairy producers will now have less paperwork to do in order to export their milk to Kenya.
In addition to that, his discussions with Kenyatta also opened a way for their tile makers to access the Kenyan market.
If that was not enough, goods destined for Uganda will be cleared in the shortest time possible at the Mombasa Port.
President Uhuru on Thursday announced that Kenya will offer Uganda a piece of land in Naivasha for them to build a dry port.
President Uhuru’s announcement was not taken lightly by Kenyans who were wondering why the head of state would offer our land to Uganda.
Read: Kenya Offers Uganda Land In Naivasha To Build Dry Port
Following the bilateral talks however, Kenya was able have the Ugandan government lift the ban on beef imports since the mad cow disease that led to the ban.
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