The High Court has refused to stay resolutions introducing sugarcane zoning in the Sugar Industry.
On May 24, this year, the Agricultural Food Authority (AFA) announced the division of the sugar belt into six zones in order to reduce tensions and the scramble for cane among millers.
However, the cane farmers say in their court papers that they were not consulted on the resolutions, despite the fact that they have a direct influence on them.
The consequence of the other resolution, dated July 25, this year, is to criminalize cane farmers’ free transfer and disposal of sugarcane and to sanction the police’s arbitrary arrests, intimidation, harassment, and confiscation of their cane for no good reason.
The farmers had told the court that if it didn’t intervene, then they would continue to be subjected to unlawful arrests and harassment by the police on account of the resolutions.
Justice Jairus Ngaah in declining to suspend the implementation of the resolutions directed the main motion by Wilson Kimanu and James Odhiambo Lwal to be served within 7 days.
The respondents are AFA and 18 sugar milling companies to file and serve their response within 7 days. The motion shall be mentioned on 18 September this year for directions.
According to the court documents, AFA on May 22 convened a meeting with sugarcane millers to address the shortage of sugarcane supply in the country.
In that meeting, resolutions dated May 24 were passed whose effect was to introduce zoning of cane in sugarcane growing areas across the country.
Central region, upper western region, lower western region, southern region, and coastal region were delineated as sugar regions within the country.
