Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Jacob Shikanda declared, “We cannot and will never allow a stranger who nearly destroyed the country’s sugar industry for personal gain to set foot at Mumias Sugar. Allowing him to operate these plants would mean killing our ultra-modern diffuser processing facility and crippling sugarcane production in Kakamega, Bungoma, and Busia counties”
Thousands of sugarcane farmers from Kakamega, Busia, and Bungoma counties, contracted to supply cane to Mumias Sugar Company, have voiced strong opposition to alleged illegal plans allowing West Kenya/Kabras Sugar management to take control of the ethanol and cogen plants at the Mumias Sugar factory complex.
The farmers have threatened mass protests unless Jaswant Rai ceases his purported interference in Mumias Sugar’s operations. This follows reports suggesting that Rai, through questionable means, gained control over the ethanol and cogen plants shortly after President William Ruto presided over a historic event on January 20, 2025, where Mumias Sugar’s contracted cane farmers received bonuses—the first of their kind in Kenya’s sugar industry.
Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Jacob Shikanda declared, “We cannot and will never allow a stranger who nearly destroyed the country’s sugar industry for personal gain to set foot at Mumias Sugar. Allowing him to operate these plants would mean killing our ultra-modern diffuser processing facility and crippling sugarcane production in Kakamega, Bungoma, and Busia counties.”
Mr. Shikanda added, “The Jaswant Rai Group is a dangerous ogre that has tried to kill Mumias Sugar. Now, they are undermining the President’s good intentions toward the farmers.” He further questioned the rationale of permitting a rival entity like West Kenya/Kabras Millers to own or operate any part of Mumias Sugar, a company previously brought to its knees due to cane poaching by competitors.
In a heated statement to the media in Mumias, the farmers warned, “If Jaswant Rai wants to engage in ethanol and cogen production, he must establish his own facilities using the billions he has amassed through questionable sugar dealings and source raw materials from his factories in Kabras, Olepito, and Sukari in South Nyanza.”
The farmers’ stance has garnered support from Mumias MP Peter Salasya, the Western Development Initiative Association (WEDIA), the Kenya Sugarcane Growers Association (KESGA), and other stakeholders opposed to the alleged move by the Jaswant Rai Group. WEDIA Chairman Joseph Barasa claimed that the takeover was orchestrated covertly by a powerful official close to President Ruto. “According to reliable sources, the Jaswant Rai Group has pocketed a senior State House official, misleading President Ruto. The speed with which this deal was sealed barely a week after the President awarded bonuses to farmers raises serious questions,” Mr. Barasa remarked.
He accused Jaswant Rai of orchestrating the cane poaching crisis that crippled Mumias Sugar, causing untold suffering for farmers in Busia and Kakamega counties for over a decade. “Until recently, when President Ruto came to their rescue, the people of Busia and Kakamega counties endured immense hardship.
The President even issued a stern warning to Jaswant Rai, famously declaring, ‘Mambo ni matatu,’” Mr. Barasa noted. He criticized President Ruto’s apparent change of heart, questioning how he could overlook Rai’s past, including allegations of smuggling mercury-laced sugar worth hundreds of millions of shillings in 2018, some of which was impounded at Pan-Paper warehouses in Webuye, Bungoma County.
Mr Barasa further revealed that sugar millers such as Nzoia, Chemelil, Sony, Transmara, Kibos, Butali, and Muhoroni were unwilling to engage in any business dealings with the Jaswant Rai Group, citing its reputation for cane poaching from contracted farmers. The KESGA boss condemned the group’s monopolistic tendencies, stating, “A rogue operative bent on paralyzing competition to dominate the country’s sugar industry must be resisted at all costs, regardless of their wealth or influence.”
He added, “The Jaswant Rai Group already controls over 45% of Kenya’s sugar market, a situation driven by crippling competitors and unreported instances of cheap, smuggled sugar repackaged under local brands. KESGA will mobilize sugarcane farmers, millers, and consumers to completely shut down the Jaswant Group’s operations.”
Mumias MP Peter Salasya vowed to rally fellow legislators from Kakamega, Busia, and other sugarcane-producing counties against the alleged takeover. “We will pressure the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB) and other government agencies to immediately revoke all business licenses granted to the Jaswant Rai Group—not just in the sugar industry, but across all sectors—given its predatory and destructive tendencies,” Mr Salasya declared.
