The Kenyan sugar industry is currently struggling with one of the sugar giants, Mumias Sugar Company still struggling to come out of the woods after the government chipped in with 1 billion shillings in an effort to re-energize the economy of the region Mumias sugar is located.
One of the major reasons why the Kenyan sugar industry has been ailing is because of cheap imported sugar from other countries.
News that Kenya and Uganda have struck a deal allowing cheaper Ugandan sugar into the Kenyan market is like striking the last nail on the casket containing the Kenyan sugar industry.
The deal was signed between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his counterpart Yoweri Kaguta Museveni when Uhuru was on a three-day visit to Uganda just recently.
Before the signing of this deal, there were claims from some Kenyan politicians that Ugandan traders were importing cheap sugar for repackaging then exporting the same to lucrative markets such as Kenya. According to them, signing of this deal with Uganda only means that the illegal trade has been legalized.
Despite the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA), maintaining that the agreement did not provide for free flow of Ugandan sugar into Kenya but a guided movement of the lucrative commodity to prevent flooding in the Kenyan market and killing local millers, the same authority has not provided the laid down structure that is going to be used to see that that is adhered to.
The fact is that the Kenyan sugar industry is struggling and the last thing the country needs is cheap sugar from whatever country. The best deal would involve enabling Kenya to export her sugar to other countries so that the industry and the economy can grow. The government should focus on uplifting the struggling sugar industry than facilitating its death by legalizing the entry of cheap sugar into the country.