which has proposed a Sh5 billion ($55 million) deal to revive the company.

The revival will be funded by shareholders and the government. It will involve the sack of the board and management of the company, as well as the retrenchment of about 300 staff.

An agreement was reached with the company’s lenders in a meeting chaired by Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto.

Mumias Sugar have over the years struggled to be competitive due to the influx of cheap imports into the market and corruption in the company. A draft forensic report by audit and consulting firm KPMG, last month, blamed management teams under former Managing Director Dr Evans Kidero and his successor, Peter Kebati for the company’s woes. They were accused to have ignored repeated calls by auditors and the company’s board of directors to stop corruption.

But Kidero, who is now the governor of Nairobi, did not meet a healthy Mumias Sugar; he inherited a Sh300 million loss in 2003. The numbers topped Sh1.67 billion ($18.3 million) by the time he left in 2012 to join politics and the shares of the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE)-listed firm also slumped. The company’s fate only got worse when Kebati took over. Last year, the sugar company’s losses hit Sh2.7 billion and its share price fell to a new low of Sh1.45. It just reported a first-half loss of Sh2.08 billion ($22.8 million) from a restated loss of Sh407.4 million a year earlier.

The company blamed its woes on lower prices due to illegal sugar imports as well as a prolonged shutdown occasioned by an unscheduled maintenance of its factory from October to December last year. Low production and high production costs also affected the company’s performance, a statement said.

However, having resumed production, the company believes it will have a better second half.