Employees of State-owned sugarcane millers are concerned that their Sh5 billion in pending salaries and benefits may be overlooked as the firms proceed with leasing plans.
They last week obtained a court order blocking the process until their salaries stretching back 20 months are addressed but a deal to withdraw the case has sent shockwaves among them.
The case filed by Kenya Union of Sugarcane Plantation and Allied Workers (KUSPAW) had been certified as urgent and leasing frozen by Kisumu Employment and Labour Relations Judge Justice Mathews Nduma.
Federation secretary-general Francis Wangara, however, entered into a deal with the Lake Region Economic Bloc chaired by Kakamega County Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to have the case withdrawn on Wednesday and pave way for leasing, a move that caught members by surprise.
“The general secretary of the union, herein referred to as Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers be a member of the interim management committee on leasing of State-owned sugar mills. Upon the gazettement of the general secretary, the union shall withdraw the case,” reads the agreement.
The deal signed with Mr Oparanya and his Kisumu counterpart Peter Nyong’o gives the union leader a seat at the committee overseeing the leasing process but the move has fanned fears of foul play.
The entry of the Oparanya-chaired bloc into the case, to which it was not party, and inclusion of their union leader in the leasing team, staff say, could be an attempt to silence their calls for public participation in the process and a move against their pursuit of justice regarding the pending payments.
“It's surprising that the workers’ union would sit with the LREB team to discuss withdrawal of the court case against the government, and include the general secretary in the interim management committee. The union is a watchdog and should check the activities of the management, and incorporating him in the team is one sure way of killing the voice of workers during the leasing process. The major concern in the petition was denial of rights associated with public participation, alongside payments of arrears,” Mr Noah Opiyo who chairs the Kenya National Federation of Sugar Cane Farmers in Muhoroni where workers are owed 17 months in salary arrears, said.
The Wednesday deal had not specified whether the current miller or the new managers under the leases would be responsible for settling the arrears and what would happen to the missed opportunity for public participation in the leasing plans.
Sony Sugar, Chemelil, Miwani (under receivership), Muhoroni (under receivership) and Nzoia are lined up for a leasing scheme which will see private investors running them for periods of 25 years.
The State-owned millers are heavily indebted, with billions yet to be paid to suppliers, workers, government (taxes) and farmers over the years of mismanagement.
