By PSCU
The National Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Livestock chaired by Dr. John Mutunga met with Mithika Linturi, CS for Agriculture and Livestock Development, regarding the tax waivers on sugar, rice, and maize imports.
Legislators pressed for details on the import companies, their selection criteria, and the quantities of sugar, rice, and maize imported.
Linturi informed the committee that in December 2022 the projected deficit was adjusted to 100,000MT to cover for the period January-March 2023.
He said that, ” Kenya experienced prolonged drought from 2020 to 2022 described as the worst in 40 years. The 2022 drought caused crop failure creating a national food deficit by about 34%. Maize production was lowest in 10 years at 34.4 million 90kg bags against a national consumption requirement of 50 million 90kg bags.”
Linturi added that, “An approved pre-import duty waiver for 100,000 MT of sugar was granted on 22nd December 2022 through Gazette Notice.”
“In the 70s and 80s Kenya used to be a producer of food but today, we are a net importer of maize, sugar, rice and wheat, what went wrong?” asked Kwanza MP, Ferdinand Wanyonyi.
Committee members questioned the transparency of the recruitment process and the sustainability of the imports.
“What are the qualifications of a company as an importer. From what I can see there is no clear criteria?, ” asked Nyando MP, Jared Okello.
MPs demanded a full disclosure of companies of all companies involved in the recent imports. Concerns were raised about the qualifications of companies as importers, pointing out a lack of clear criteria and the extension of importation through a Gazette Notice issued in October 2023.
“We demand a forensic audit of recent sugar importation process,” said David Kiplagat.
Lawmakers’ further questioned the sustainability of the commodity imports. “We need to see figures that demonstrate how importation has reduced the cost of sugar, maize, and rice for consumers, so far the duty waiver is only benefiting the importers,” said Dr Mutunga, who is also the Tigania West MP.
The committee on Agriculture and Livestock expressed dissatisfaction with the Ministry’s responses, with members’ demanding more comprehensive information on importers.
