Letter from Webuye: Did Industrial revolution bypass Western Kenya?

Pan African Paper Mills. [File, Standard]

There is something intoxicating about Western Kenya. I never get tired of visiting the place. After visiting Mumias, my next destination was Webuye in Bungoma County. We all knew about it from primary school geography: the home of Pan-Africa Paper Mills, commonly known as PanPaper.

The factory, like Mumias, faced economic headwinds from politics, failure to innovate, and global competition. It closed before reopening as Rai Paper.  The trip from Kakamega to Webuye took me about an hour through Lubao (never saw dogs on sale), Malava (not Malaba), a forest, Butali (very vibrant with foodstuffs) and finally Matete (another dog market?).

The matatu dropped me off the Eldoret-Malaba highway, away from Webuye town. As usual, I took a bodaboda to PanPaper (now Rai Paper). I noticed bodabodas charge much less than in Nairobi and its environs. My chauffeur narrated to me the golden age of Pan Paper. “Hata hawakua wakichukua miti kutoka nje.” They had enough trees to keep the factory humming all year.

After a few minutes, towards Kakamega, where I had come from, we turned left towards Rai Paper. I noted I should have been dropped there from Kakamega. A signboard next was nostalgic” Pan Paper Stadium.”

At the gate, I made my usual request to visit and see the famous factory. The lady security guard told me I could not. Nikiona wakubwa? No, she emphasised.

Through the closed gate, I could see a police car. Such cars have become common around big businesses, including hotels. Why? I could see the rusty big metallic structures in the distance.  I was told it now mostly makes brown paper for packaging. The factory seems to have a newer wing from the roofs.

Like Mumias, I could not visit another factory. One of the courses at my university is operations management. A visit would give me insights into many topics: plant layout, facilities management, innovations, quality, workflow management, safety, efficiency, value addition, waste management, optimisation, automation, among others.

It is no wonder we use textbooks and foreign case studies. Nothing can beat real-life experiences. What are the factories hiding? I will be told there are protocols to follow, but there are exceptions. Curiously, I have visited Boeing and Airbus factories; they make planes and even rockets. Can’t I visit paper and sugar factories? Beyond my students benefiting, I could have given the two factories free publicity and consultancy. Remember it took me over 40 years to see what I read about in primary school. Hope Competence-Based Education (CBE) is bridging the gap between the textbook and reality.

Opposite the factory is the Masinde Muliro University-owned TVET institution; hope there is some synergy with Rai. I was told it was once part of Pan-Paper.

To the bus station, the rider took me through a stadium to Webuye town nestled next to a hill like Limuru. “Haungepitia hapa.” He reminded. There was security everywhere. I could sense this town was once vibrant when PanPaper was alive.  It looked like PanPaper’s bedroom. In a matatu charging me Sh300 one way back to Kakamega, I reflected on my visit about to end in western Kenya.

The factories' closure and revival left me perplexed.  How many families were affected? Why should we allow such industries to shut down? I noted other nearby factors, such as Butali and Kabras. What happened to Nzoia and Mumias? Was it a matter of sugar overcapacity? Was it economic rivalry?  Whatever it was, sugar is the staple in this region. They should be exporting it. And like Brazil giving us gasohol. Western Kenya and its humble and gracious citizens do not deserve such economic injustice.

What of PanPaper? Don’t blame paperless office; the demand for paper has not gone down because of computers. Remember the factory had a monopoly? We had similar stories in coffee, pyrethrum and other crops. Agriculture, it seems, is about economic tears; it’s no wonder no one wants to be a farmer. But everyone eats.

Returning to Kakamega, I came across two shops that were “kubwa zaidi.” One was owned by Elizabeth and another by Kamau. What is kubwa about them?

This region’s future, in my opinion, is in agribusiness with sugar as the anchor industry. What other crops grow here beyond maize? How can we add value to them like sugar from sugar cane? These factories show an industrial revolution was about to start in Western Kenya. Now we need phase II.

The region is highly populated, and old solutions will not work.  One easy solution is to link the region to global supply chains and diversify crops beyond sugar and maize. Am an economics optimist.  Remember I almost became Baba Matendechere?