Kenya Railways is set to start distributing sugar at affordable rates after signing an agreement with Nzoia Sugar in Bungoma County.
The agency announced that it had rehabilitated the 4.2 km siding which leads into Nzoia Sugar Company.
The line is part of the Kenya-Uganda Railway which passes through Webuye Town.
"The rehabilitated line company will see us transport sugar from the company to various areas and fertilizer to the company," Kenya Railways Managing Director Philip Mainga said on Thursday, January 28.
Nzoia's Managing Director Wanjala Makokha added that the partnership with Kenya Railways will reduce the cost of transportation.
He said that they would move sugar at a cost of Ksh 1 per kilogram which is cheaper and more effective as compared to ferrying the commodity via road networks.
In 2020, the government announced plans to sell Nzoia Sugar and 26 other parastatals to strategic investors.
The government believed that the privatization of these firms would boost their survival and productivity.
Cartels have infiltrated the sugar industry for years and have been blamed for importing illegal and unregulated commodities.
The government also disclosed that shrewd traders hoard sugar to cause shortages and skyrocket prices.
On July 12, Agriculture CS Peter Munya banned brown sugar imports and cancelled all import licences to protect the local industry and farmers.
