{"id":17040,"date":"2025-01-23T15:06:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T15:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/?p=17040"},"modified":"2025-01-23T15:06:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T15:06:43","slug":"ruto-defends-mumias-sugar-farmer-bonuses-amid-kalonzos-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/?p=17040","title":{"rendered":"Ruto Defends Mumias Sugar Farmer Bonuses Amid Kalonzo&#8217;s Criticism."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"298\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Untitled-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17042\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>President William Ruto has dismissed allegations by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka that the Ksh.150 million bonus recently paid to Mumias Sugar farmers was funded by taxpayers through the National Treasury rather than the sugar miller&#8217;s profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking in Busia County on Thursday, Ruto expressed surprise at Kalonzo\u2019s claims, emphasizing that the bonus was a direct result of reforms in the sugar industry and improved management of Mumias Sugar Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are leaders questioning why the government supported Mumias Sugar to the extent of paying bonuses to sugarcane farmers. Are sugarcane farmers not Kenyans? Tea and coffee farmers receive bonuses, yet when sugarcane farmers get theirs, questions arise,\u201d Ruto stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ruto dismissed the accusations, suggesting they stem from political malice. &#8220;These individuals have been influenced by negative forces. Where do tea and coffee farmers\u2019 bonuses come from? It\u2019s the same place sugarcane farmers\u2019 bonuses come from,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He clarified that the funds did not come from the government but rather from the company\u2019s improved business performance. \u201cI promised we would implement proper management in these sectors, and now farmers are being paid from the company\u2019s profits, not government funds,\u201d Ruto reiterated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the President announced that the bonus scheme would be extended to other sugar millers, including Nzoia, Sony, Chemilil, Muhoroni, and Busia Sugar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ruto further criticized those questioning the initiative, accusing them of wanting to keep citizens impoverished for political gain. \u201cThey want people to remain poor so they can organize protests. Let\u2019s forgive them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kalonzo had earlier demanded accountability from the government, questioning the source of the funds and accusing Ruto of bypassing due processes. However, Ruto maintained that the payments were legitimate and a testament to the success of reforms in Kenya\u2019s sugar industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President William Ruto has dismissed allegations by Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka that the Ksh.150 million bonus recently paid to Mumias Sugar farmers was funded by taxpayers through the National Treasury rather than the sugar miller&#8217;s profits. Speaking in Busia County on Thursday, Ruto expressed surprise at Kalonzo\u2019s claims, emphasizing that the bonus was a direct [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","category-political-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Untitled-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17043,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17040\/revisions\/17043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getufm.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}