President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Agriculture and the Treasury to put in place a framework to pay sugarcane farmers their Sh 2.6 billion arrears.
Uhuru said the amount should be audited first before payments are made for cane delivery.
The Head of State spoke last year at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega during celebrations to mark Mashujaa Day.
“My administration has consistently focused on supporting sugarcane farming and production. It is not acceptable that factories have been collecting cane from farmers and not paying for it yet the demand for sugar is on the rise,” he said.
But President Uhuru Kenyatta has come out to give a sigh of relief to the sugar cane farmers. The President has stated that the report is ready and that maize farmers should prepare to start receiving payments as soon as possible.
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Premier miller Mumias Sugar Company has been shut down because of a Sh20 billion debt.
The factory owes cane farmers more than Sh 700 million. Other public millers are Sony, Muhoroni, Nzoia, Chemilil and Miwani.
Uhuru said the people who embezzled money meant for farmers must be pursued and prosecuted.
“I encourage farmers to sell their produce to factories that are well run and which pay on time. Selling cane to the informal markets is undermining the farmers’ incomes and reversing the development of a proper sugar industry,” he said.
Uhuru said during the meeting that payment of farmers’ arrears will be given priority. The sugar industry supports an estimated 10 million people largely in Western Kenya.