Chemelil Sugar Company loses Ksh.20M in day two of workers' strike

Chemelil Sugar Company Managing Director Gabriel Nyangweso says the mill has lost Ksh.20 million as a result of the ongoing impasse created by the workers strike which he says is illegal.

According to Mr. Nyangweso, for two days of the industrial action, the State mill has lost Ksh.10 million per day, an equivalent of 4000 bags of sugar.

He said that on normal days the factory mills 1500 tonnes of cane daily, which has now been hampered by sit-ins by the unionisable workers.

Nyangweso said farmers supplying cane to the mill are also losing, given that the cane is drying up in the field thereby losing sucrose levels.

He added that the standoff over payments of arrears has also cost drivers who are paid per trip when they deliver farmers canes to the mill for crushing.

The MD has since appealed to the striking workers to return to work and obey an existing court order that had stopped the strike.

He said Agriculture CAS Anne Nyagah had met both parties and agreed on the way forward, but the workers are still hell-bent on crippling the State mill’s operations.

“There are staff who are not keen on the strike, so actually the people who are out on strike are about 40%...but the others are scared of coming back to work because of victimisation. So we have called on them to come back to work because we’re providing security,” Nyangweso told Citizen Digital.

“In a discussion, when you make a proposal, it’s a give and take. You cannot make a demand and stick to it…both sides must give and take, as we did when they demanded to be paid their December arrears much earlier and we had to compromise”

During Tuesday’s unrest, several workers were arrested by police after they caused mayhem in an attempt to eject the MD and his Finance Director from accessing their offices.