![\"\"](\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG-20260709-WA0033-300x226.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Bungoma County Governor Kenneth Lusaka has moved to reassure sugarcane farmers that Nzoia Sugar Company is firmly on the road to recovery, following an impromptu inspection visit to the factory Today.<\/p>\n
Speaking during the visit, the Governor said the leasing of the milling firm to a private investor was already bearing fruit for thousands of local farmers who had for years struggled with delayed payments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I am glad to report that our farmers are now receiving their pay just two weeks after cane delivery,” Lusaka said, contrasting the current arrangement with the past, when growers sometimes waited years to be compensated for cane deliveries a delay he said had made farmers’ lives “miserable.”<\/p>\n
The Governor noted that the revamped factory has pumped close to Ksh900 million into Bungoma’s economy since operations resumed, with company records showing more than Ksh700 million already disbursed directly to farmers.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG-20260709-WA0032-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
He took aim at politicians who he accused of using the troubled factory for “political grandstanding,” warning that such propaganda would not be tolerated going forward.<\/p>\n
“Woe unto those politicians who have used this company for political point-scoring,” Lusaka said, adding that as county leadership, they would not entertain any let-down in the miller’s operations.<\/p>\n
“The priority of our farmers must always come first.”<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG-20260709-WA0034-300x221.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The Governor further challenged the new management to restore Nzoia Sugar to its former glory, describing the miller as the economic heartbeat of Bungoma County.<\/p>\n
Briefing the Governor on the factory’s turnaround, Nzoia Sugar CEO Sohan Sharma said the company has undertaken an extensive rehabilitation programme since taking over the mill in May 2025, covering the pre-mill area, mill house, boiling house, boilers, turbines, electrical systems, instrumentation and civil works.<\/p>\n
Sharma said crushing resumed in January 2026 and the factory has since processed over 292,980 tonnes of cane, with an installed capacity of 3,000 tonnes of cane per day (TCD) against a current average of 1,900 TCD.<\/p>\n
He added that the milling efficiency ratio has improved sharply from a previous range of 17\u201321 to a current 10, reflecting the scale of investment in new equipment.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG-20260709-WA0035-300x217.jpg\")
\nThe CEO also highlighted the rollout of a digital Smart Weighment System and a US$450,000 Distributed Control System (DCS), which he said have eliminated manual manipulation at the weighbridge and given farmers real-time, SMS-based confirmation of their cane deliveries.<\/p>\n
On staffing, Sharma disclosed that the factory now supports 1,639 jobs, while a new irrigation project under development targets raising cane yields from an average of 40 tonnes per hectare to as high as 120 tonnes per hectare.<\/p>\n
However, the CEO flagged a looming supply gap, noting the factory requires about 43,500 acres of cane to sustain operations through October 2027, against only 24,500 acres currently recruited a shortfall of roughly 19,000 acres that he said calls for urgent, coordinated action between the company, farmers, the county government and financial institutions.<\/p>\n
Governor Lusaka pledged the county’s continued partnership with the miller, saying restoring Nzoia Sugar to full capacity remained a top priority for his administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bungoma County Governor Kenneth Lusaka has moved to reassure sugarcane farmers that Nzoia Sugar Company is firmly on the road to recovery, following an impromptu inspection visit to the factory Today. Speaking during the visit, the Governor said the leasing of the milling firm to a private investor was already bearing fruit for thousands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-agriculture"],"yoast_head":"\n