President Ruto has today, Friday, November 1, assented the Sugar Bill into law in a move that is set to regulate and provide structure to the sugar industry in Kenya.
The principal object of the Bill is to provide for the development, regulation, and promotion of the sugar industry after the repeal of the former Sugar Act through the enactment of the Crops Act in 2013. Among the key aspects of the new law is the regulation of sugar prices which could offer relief on the crucial commodity.
The Sugar Bill (National Assembly Bills No. 34 of 2022) was published on October 6, 2022, via Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 150 of 2022, and was read for the First time on November 9, 2022. The Bill is sponsored by the Member for Navakholo, Emmanuel Wangwe, MP, and was co-sponsored in the Senate by Senator David Wakoli.
Of importance is the fact that the new law provides for the re-establishment of the Kenya Sugar Board (KSB), whose roles are currently undertaken by the Sugar Directorate of the Agricultural Food Authority.
The Kenya Sugar Board will be empowered to regulate, develop, and promote the sugar industry, coordinate stakeholders, participate in policy-making, and collaborate with government and research institutions.
The Board will also oversee the sugar trade, advise growers, regulate pricing, license mills, and conduct market surveillance.
The Board will consist of 14 members comprising of a non-executive chairperson; five representatives elected by growers in the counties clustered under the Central; Upper Western; Lower Western; Southern; and Coastal sugar catchment areas; two representatives each from both private and public-owned sugar mills; the Principal Secretary for agriculture; a representative of the Council of County Governors; the Principal Secretary for National Treasury; and a Chief Executive officer.
The Board is to serve for a term of three years, renewable once. Furthermore, the Board will be mandated to appoint qualified crop inspectors to undertake inspections and enforce the laws governing the sector.
The new law provides for enhanced and structured funding for the work of the Board. The funds of the Board include monies appropriated by the National Assembly for the purposes of the Board and the Sugar Development Levy, which is to be levied on domestic sugar and retained in a Sugar Development Fund that is administered by the Board.
The Levy is capped at four percent of the value of domestic sugar and four percent of the Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) value of imported sugar. Allocations include 15 per cent for factory development, 15 per cent for research, 40 per cent for cane productivity, 15 per cent for infrastructure in sugarcane-producing regions, 10 per cent for Board administration, and five per cent for sugarcane farmers' organizations.
The Bill also establishes the Kenya Sugar Research and Training Institute (KSRTI). The Institute is mandated to, among others, promote, coordinate, and regulate research in sugar, sugar crop, sugar by-products, sugar technologies and management practices; and to expedite equitable access to research information, resources, sugar technologies and innovations and promote the application of research findings in the development of the sugar industry.
The Institute is to be managed by a nine-member Board comprising a chairperson appointed by the Cabinet Secretary; a representative of the apex body of sugarcane growers; a representative of the apex body of sugarcane manufacturers; a representative of the Council of Governors; one person nominated by the Cabinet Secretary; the Principal Secretary for National Treasury; the Principal Secretary for Agriculture; the Director General of the Kenya Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization; and a Managing Director.
The newly assented Bill is set to strengthen the industry by boosting production, enhancing milling efficiency, aligning capacity with cane supply, promoting value addition, and providing critical funding to benefit all stakeholders.
