Businessmen Faryd Abdulrazak Sheikh and Jabir Abdul Nassir Al-Kandy, who are eyeing a Sh45 billion smart driving licences tender, have made an aggressive entry into the sugar industry.
They are partnering up with the families of Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot and Kipchimchim Supermarket founder Samuel Kipsoi Kipketer Ngetich in the new venture.
The group is setting up two mills – Soit Sugar Factory in Narok County and Tinderet Sugar Factory in Nandi.
They now target a share of the billions of shillings the Rai and Chatthe families have made for years through Kabras and Kibos Sugar Companies, respectively.
Oiling the forays into the sugarbelt by these well-connected individuals is the Kipchimchim Group, the umbrella company behind the Kericho-based West Valley Sugar Company.
West Valley, which is less than three years old, recently won a 30-year lease for state-owned Muhoroni Sugar Company, inheriting its factory and a 5,000-acre nucleus farm.
Photo credit: Nation Media Group
They have acquired a combined 41.17 per cent stake in Pesa Print Ltd, which bid for the NTSA tender for the supply of smart driving licences, a project expected to run for 21 years.
A section of Dolphin Hotel that is estimated to have cost Sh600 million.
Photo credit: Wachira Mwangi | Nation Media Group
He is also a director of Jaramogi Investments, which has partnered with Kipchimchim Group to build Tinderet Sugar Factory, according to National Environment Management Authority (Nema) documents seen by the Daily Nation.
The sole shareholder of Jaramogi Investments is Marawealth Investments, which is fully owned by Mr Jabir.
He co-owns North Mogor Holdings, the entity through which President Ruto acquired 1,000 acres in Kilgoris, Narok County.
The Kilgoris land was among the properties then-Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i listed in 2022 as one of many owned by Dr Ruto, who was then Deputy President, and guarded by police officers and whose protection bill was picked up by taxpayers.
“Tinderet Sugar Factory Ltd and Jaramogi Investments Ltd are registered companies that have proposed to establish a sugar factory with a capacity of 1,250 TCD (tonnes of cane crushed per day) – expandable to 2,500 TCD,” reads the Environmental Impact Assessment on the factory.
“The factory, which is proposed to be called Tinderet Sugar Factory, will be located on Plot L.R No. 2372 owned by Jaramogi Investments in Soba location, Songhor/Soba Ward, Tinderet Sub-County, Nandi County.”
In Trans Mara, Mr Jabir and Mr Faryd – in a consortium with the Kipchimchim Group of Companies – are building Soit Sugar Factory with a 1,250 tonnes TCD, also expandable to 2,500.
The majority owner of Soit Sugar is Marawealth Investments, which has a 50 per cent stake in the firm.
Kipchimchim Supermarkets was started in the 1990s by Samuel Kipsoi Kipterer Ngetich, alias Chepsetyon.
The business empire is now overseen by his children, led by Mr Alfred Soi and Mr Benard Soi. Both are directors of West Valley Sugar Company.
Registered on October 21, 2022, Soit Sugar also lists Mr Benard Soi as its shareholder with 150 shares, Ms Lenah Chesang Kiprop – the wife of Senator Cheruiyot – with 120 shares and Mr Alfred Soi who has 119 shares.
There is also Mr Stanley Kipkirui Soi who has 67 shares, Mr Brian Kipngeno Soi (22) and Mr John Paul Kipyegon with 22 shares.
Mr Bernard Soi told the Daily Nation on Tuesday that construction of Soit Sugar Factory is nearing completion, but that the Tinderet project is still in the conception stage.
“It is just a name and has not even been approved yet. Work on Soit Sugar Factory is going on. It should be completed by the end of the year,” he said.
On the political links and source of funds for the aggressive investments, Mr Benard Soi said he would call back as he was in a meeting.
He had not returned our calls or responded to reminders sent via text message at the time of going to press.
Mr Jabir said that he would get his public relations officer to respond to our queries, but had not done so when we were going to press.
The senator also did not respond to our messages requesting his comment, or his wife’s contacts.
The Chepsetyon family’s West Valley Sugar Company Ltd was incorporated towards the end of 2022 by its patriarch, whose inspiring rags-to-riches story saw the Standard Three dropout feted posthumously by President Ruto.
The business empire spans several sectors, including supermarket outlets, tea factories, a mining company and warehouses, which operate under the umbrella of Kipchimchim Group of Companies.
Another company being built in Trans Mara is Angata Sugar Mills, associated with industrialist Hussein Sadrudin Shamji and Deep Jitendra Nagda.
Others are Savannah Crest (K) Ltd, which bought a 40 per cent stake in the miller by paying Sh500 million by the end of last year, said the Competition Authority of Kenya while approving the transaction.
Registered on January 18, 2024, Savannah Crest has 100 ordinary shares shared equally between Ms Deborah Linet Ontiri and Mr Peter JR Okaalet. The two advocates work at Hamilton Harrison & Mathews, a law company that President Ruto’s self-declared fixer and Safaricom Board chairperson Adil Arshed Khawaja, also practices.
She also has a stake in Pioneer General Insurance Ltd, one of the new owners of Sidian Bank.
But it is the incursion of Mr Faryd and Mr Jabir into the local sugar industry that leaves an impression, given their recent acquisition of a stake in Pesa Print, the company producing the smart driving licences.
Public-private partnership
Mr Faryd and Mr Jabir made their entry into Pesa Print through Simbabanc Investments and Cropharmony Africa, companies registered in August and October 2023, respectively – weeks after the National Treasury approved the feasibility study of the project in July 2023.
The smart driving licence programme is being executed as a public-private partnership (PPP) involving Pesa Print, the National Bank of Kenya and the transport agency.
It aims to transition Kenya to second-generation driving permits embedded with biometric and digital security features over a 21-year concession period.
President Ruto’s close connection to Mr Faryd was underscored in 2023 when he attended the wedding of Faryd’s son, Idris.
Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, who accompanied the President to the ceremony, posted a message on social media praising the occasion.
Mr Jabir, the more reserved figure, co-owns North Mogor Holdings, which acquired the 1,000-acre Kilgoris land.
The land, known as Murumbi Farm, has sparked debate over historical land rights and political acquisitions.
