President Kenyatta met with Western Kenya leaders yesterday and donated a bus and two million shillings. He made the donation to Nzoia Sugar Factory football club.
Nzoia Sugar FC is affiliated with the Nzoia Sugar Factory as the club receives 100% of their funding from the sugar milling company. The head of state handed over a 52-seater bus to the Nzoia Sugar Factory chairman Mr. Joash Wamang’oli. The bus will be used by the football club members to ferry participants to sporting events across the country and East Africa in general. To accompany the bus, Mr. Kenyatta also donated 2 million shillings in cash money.
During the meeting, the president discussed the government’s commitment to revive sugar manufacturing companies in Western Kenya. This is in line with the president’s Big Four Agenda of increasing Kenya’s manufacturing to 15% of the national GDP contribution share. The president hopes that by increasing the manufacturing sector’s GDP contribution to between 8.5%-15%, this will help Kenya rank among the top 50 countries with the easy of doing business.
Revitalizing the manufacturing sector will also help create more than 1 million job opportunities in the country. The job opportunities will be realized in Agro-Processing, Textile, Apparel and Leather, Heavy Industry as well as the ICT and Services.
According to the available data, the manufacturing sector in Kenya has been declining since the Jubilee government swept to power. For example, manufacturing sector’s contribution to Kenya’s GDP was 18.65% in 2013 but has been dropping gradually to where it is in 2020 at 16.39%.
The other three tenets of the Big Four Agenda includes Universal Health Care, Food Security and Affordable Housing.
Leaders who accompanied the president in today’s meeting includes Kakamega County Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, Busia County Governor Sospeter Ojaamong, Bungoma governor Wycliffe Wangamati, Vihiga County governor Wilbur Ottichilo and Trans-Nzoia County governor Patrick Khaemba.
Other notable leaders in attendance were Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli and Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.
Nzoia Sugar Factory: Company Profile
Nzoia Sugar Company started operations in 1975 as a parastatal under the Companies Act Cap 486 of the Laws of Kenya. The government of Kenya owns 98% of the company’s stock with the other 2% being owned by commercial banks.
Currently, Nzoia Sugar Factory processes 3,000 tonnes of cane per day, with plans to ramp up production to more than 7,000 tonnes per day by the end of the year. The company serves 67,000 farmers spread across within the larger Bungoma, Kakamega and surrounding counties. Nzoia Sugar company has undergone four management changes sinces its inception and is currently headed by Joash Wamang’oli, who is the chairman of the company.
