By JOHN SHILITSA jshilitsa@ke.nationmedia.com

Sugarcane growers in Busia County have threatened to stop cane deliveries over a disputed parcel of land. This comes barely a week after Prime Minister Raila Odinga ordered Mumias Sugar Company to return the land to the public.

The more than 2,000 growers on Thursday said they would boycott sugarcane deliveries to Mumias Sugar starting Friday. They are also planning to hold demonstrations to compel the sugar miller to return the parcel of land. The company is said to have sold the 341.2 hectares to settle a debt. Farmers and civil society activists opposed the move.

Recently, Mr Odinga directed that the disputed land at Nasewa in Busia be returned to the public, as it had been earmarked for development purposes. At one time, Kenya Sugar Board director Billy Wanjala referred the matter to the Agriculture Ministry â€Å"seeking authority to clear the defunct Busia Sugar Company debts including close to Sh300 million it owed the industry regulator but this never came to pass because we ended up in a legal tussle with Mumias Sugar over the moveâ€Â�.

According to an audit report sanctioned by KSB, Busia Sugar owed its creditors about Sh600 million. Mumias Sugar claimed it was owed Sh100 million by the collapsed firm, although the industry regulator insisted the figure was too high. Addressing the press yesterday, the farmers said they would paralyse transportation of sugarcane to Mumias Sugar-owned Kisoko cane buying centre until the matter was resolved.

â€Å"This zone has over 18,000 hectares under sugarcane and we account for close to 25 per cent of cane supply to Mumias Sugar. â€Å"We want the company to feel the pinch especially at this time of sugarcane scarcity until it responds to our demands,â€Â� said the growers at Nambale. Yesterday, Mr Wanjala urged the farmers to drop the boycott plan as the matter was being addressed.

â€Å"You stand to lose immensely by staging demonstrations and stopping cane deliveries,â€Â� he said. But rights activist Okiya Omtatah said the demonstration would go on as planned. â€Å"The land must be returned to the public to serve the purposes it was acquired for,â€Â� he said.