The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to shelve the implementation of the Sugar importation deal with Uganda, to allow for wider consultations.

Cotu said there is need for details of the agreement entered between Kenya and Uganda to be made public to clear doubts over what the President agreed with Uganda's Yoweri Museveni.

The union officials led by the General-Secretary of the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantations Workers Francis Wangara, said it is misleading for the government to claim that the neighbouring country produces surplus sugar to be imported into Kenya.

"The President should look for other trade options. Any country that imports sugar to its economy should not be allowed to export the same," Mr Wangara, who read the press statement at the Cotu headquarters in Nairobi, said.

The leaders criticised politicians aligned to the Jubilee coalition for duping Kenyans into believing that Kenyans stand to benefit from the deal which they argued is a scheme meant to benefit traders who have no interest in the sugar industry.

The Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) Secretary-General Albert Njeru said it is wrong for Mr Kenyatta to solely commit Kenyans into foreign deals.

SET ASIDE AGREEMENT

"The President should not be the only one determining what is good for Kenyans.

"The agreement should be set aside to give room for thorough scrutiny of its details to see if it adds value to our economy," said Mr Njeru.

Instead, he said, farmers should be given incentives to produce more and the fight against corruption in state corporations enhanced so as to guarantee good management that can improve productivity.

The president and his deputy William Ruto have separately traversed Western and Nyanza regions in what is believed to be a deliberate effort to defuse growing protests over plans to officially open the borders for cheap sugar.