UDA MP Rejects Mwea Rice Mill’s Privatization
UDA MP Rejects Mwea Rice Mill’s Privatization
A United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party member’s opposition to President William Ruto’s privatization plan caused a roadblock.Local MP Mary Maingi voiced her disapproval of the government’s proposal to privatize the Mwea Rice Mills at a speech in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, on Saturday.
She insisted that the government sell its interests to the people and that the farmers in the area be included in the process.Treasury documents state that local farmers, through the Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd., control 45% of the business, with the government owning the other 55%.
We are declaring that no outsider will purchase Mwea Rice Mills. She insisted, “The only option available to the government if it wants to sell its fifty-five percent is to sell the shares to Mwea farmers through Mwea Growers.”
However, the local farmers, through their representatives, insisted that they would reject the plans, citing their shareholdings as a means of having a say in the company’s activities.
Mwea Rice Mills is one of the eleven businesses that the National Treasury designated for the privatization program.The Treasury claimed that because the 1967-founded business was up against other private enterprises for business operations, privatization would maximize its performance.
Treasury stated in its privatization proposal that “privatization of MRM will broaden the base of ownership in the Kenyan economy by encouraging private ownership of entities, particularly among the Farmer Cooperatives.”
The Kenya Pipeline Company, Kenya Seed Company Limited, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB), National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK), and the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries are among the other companies on the list for privatization.
The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Western Kenya Rice Mills Ltd., and Rivatex East Africa Limited have all been placed on the auction block for sale.
Cooperatives CS Simon Chelugui, however, removed New KCC from the list on Friday, claiming that it was the final buyer option for milk from nearby farms.Amidst mounting opposition, the government is scheduled to organize a statewide public participation event for the privatization process on December 11.
Kenya Kwanza MPs have been publicly defying Ruto’s orders, and as a result, he has been up against fierce opposition lately. Ruto’s move to prevent the MPs from accessing tenders illegally, according to his economic advisor David Ndii, was perceived as a source of frustration by the new wave of revolution.
“Many MPs from the tenderpreneur generation are confused. They believed that the Kenya Kwanza win was similar to the old skyteam days, when they would enter a ministry, leave with a project, and enter a parastatal with a tender,” Ruto’s economic advisor said.
