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KMC to trim its board and staff in cost-cutting plan [Business Daily (Kenya)](Business Daily (Kenya) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) will trim its board and staff as the State-owned firm prepares to settle farmers' dues and revamp in a Sh226 million plan. The meat processor has formed a committee to restructure the board that comprises 10 directors whose three-year terms will end next June. The board had been appointed in 2012 by then Livestock minister Mohamed Kuti. KMC will also deepen its cost-cutting plans that will see unspecified number of job shed as the firm races to return to profit and boost cash flow. "We need to cut down the number of workers in order to have a manageable wage bill that will reduce the cost incurred in running the firm," said the Livestock PS Khadijah Kassochoon. The funds that have been established will be used in paying debts that KMC owes farmers as the government moves to restructure the ailing industry. "We want to clear debts once and for all and move on with the plans of making KMC a vibrant economic entity," said Mrs Kasochoon. KMC reopened in 2006 after a 15-year shutdown with the government injecting billions of shillings into the plant, including paying National Bank Sh5.2 billion it had guaranteed the factory. Apart from the Sh98 million that KMC owes farmers, it is also indebted to Family and First Community banks which had stepped in to ease the plant's liquidity problem. The PS noted that the ministry is auditing the debts to ensure that only genuine farmers benefit from the first batch of Sh40 million to be released in the coming two weeks. (c) 2014 Nation Media Group. All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |