Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Committee, under the leadership of Kirinyaga County Senator James Kamau Murango, MP, has kicked of its three day public participation to deliberate on the legislative proposal on the Sugar Bill, 2022, (National Assembly Bill No. 34). 

The Sugar Bill, 2022, sponsored by Hon. Emmanuel Wangwe, MP and co-sponsored by Bungoma County Sen. David Wakoli, MP, seeks to reinstate the Sugar Act, which was repealed through the enactment of the Crops Act, 2013. The enactment of the Bill shall restore the roles of the Kenya Sugar Board currently undertaken by the Sugar Directorate of the Agriculture and Food Authority established under the Agriculture and Food Authority Act, 2013.

The Bill further provides for the development, regulation, and promotion of the sugar industry to provide for the establishment, powers, and functions of the Kenya Sugar Board. 

Sugarcane farmers from Western Kenya have backed up the reinstatement of the Kenya Sugar Board to regulate the sector directly instead of operating through Agriculture and Food Authority. Stakeholders in the sugar sector said the Sugar Directorate under AFA Act 2013 lacked the autonomy to address challenges in the sugar industry.

Kirinyaga County Senator James Kamau Murango, MP, Bungoma County Senator David Wakoli, MP, and Nominated Senator Beth Syengo, MP, resolved to consider all recommendations.