Farmers issue 7-day ultimatum for disbandment of Sony Sugar board

Migori County sugarcane farmers have issued a seven-day ultimatum to president Uhuru Kenyatta to disband the Sony Sugar Company board of management failure to which they would stop supplying sugarcane to the company.

Led by the Federation of Sugarcane Farmers Chairman, Sony Branch, Mr John Omollo Odondi, the farmers demanded that the board be disbanded immediately saying it was not sensitive to their issues.

Mr Omollo claimed that the board only served its own interests since it was instituted, adding that their issues have been ignored.

The chairman further claimed that senior employees of the company had resigned citing unfavourable working conditions and frustration by the board.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, the federation’s secretary, Mr Argwenge Odongo, accused the board of collecting Sh107,000 per sitting each, adding that the board sits three times a week.

On her part, Sony Sugar Company Cooperate Manager Ruth Opolle denied claims that some employees had resigned saying those who left were moving on to other opportunities and that it was beyond the company’s control.

She also rebutted claims that every board member earns Sh107,000 per sitting but declined to give the exact amount.

The renewed calls for the board’s exit come barely three weeks after the farmers appealed to President Kenyatta to disband the board of managers over what they termed as mismanagement of the company’s funds.

The farmers had expressed concern that the misappropriation of company funds would run the company into the ground, adding that the board did not care about their welfare.