Agriculture CS Mutahi Kagwe Asks Kenyans to Submit Views on Sugar Development Levy

• President William Ruto signed the Sugar Bill 2022 into law, introducing the Sugar Development Levy capped at 4%
• Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe requested Kenyans to submit their views on the levy within 14 days
• FX Pesa lead market analyst Rufas Kamau warned that sugar prices will rise in the country if the levy is implemented

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Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Mutahi Kagwe has asked Kenyans to submit their comments on the draft Sugar Development Order, Levy 2025.

Why Kenyans should submit comments on sugar levy

In a notice published in the government newspaper MyGov on Tuesday, April 22, Kagwe pointed out that all stakeholders should present their views within 14 days.

The CS revealed that the submission of views would precede the gazettment of the levy in compliance with the provisions of the Sugar Act (the Statutory Instruments Act (No. 23 of 2013).

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"The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and the Statutory Instruments Act, 2013, require the public to participate in the decision-making process through the submission of comments to the ministry. It is in this spirit that the ministry requests the public to participate by submitting their comments through the Principal Secretary (PS), State Department of Crop Development," Kagwe stated.

What's the Sugar Development Levy?

Following President William Ruto's signing of the Sugar Bill 2022 into law, the levy was proposed under the Kenya Sugar Act No. 11 of 2024.

The new law established the Kenya Sugar Board and the Kenya Sugar Research and Training Institute to revitalise the sugar industry.

"The main objective of the draft order is to boost and streamline the collection of levy on domestic and imported sugar that will be used for the development, promotion and regulation of the sugar industry for the benefit of the sugarcane growers and other stakeholders in the sugar sub-sector," Kagwe explained.

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Rufas Kamau, the lead market analyst at FX Pesa, warned that if the government implements the levy, sugar prices in Kenya will increase, burdening consumers.

"To fill the output shortfall, Kenya imports about 27% of its sugar consumption. If local production does not increase to close the import gap, raising the price of imported sugar will raise living expenses," he told TUKO.co.ke.

What's Kenya's sugar production?

The Sugar Directorate reported that in the nine months leading up to September 2024, sugar production increased from 374,119 metric tonnes (MT) to 615,499 MT.

As a result, the price of a 50kg bag of wholesale sugar decreased from KSh 5,424 to KSh 5,367 in September 2018.

Retail sugar prices fell from KSh 141 per kilogram in August 2024 to an average of KSh 136 per kilogram in September 2024 as inflation eased.

Were sugar farmers paid?

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Elsewhere, farmers and workers in five public sugar factories were paid their dues.

This came after the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development completed the audit of all arrears.

Agriculture Principal Secretary (PS) Paul Ronoh asked farmers and workers to verify their account details.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke