HUNGER LOOMING
…Maize prices set to rise in Kenya after lapse of tax waiver on imports
NAIROBI – Kenyan families will have to tighten their belts as maize flour prices are expected to rise further. This is after a waiver on charges and fees on imported maize expired on Friday.
The 90-day waiver that has been in place since July 1 was effected to control prices after they shot to Sh225 just a month before the elections.
This cushioned consumers from high prices amid rising food inflation.
On Wednesday, Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis) managing director Theophilus Mutui notified deputy directors within the organisation to resume charges on maize effective October 1, in an internal memo seen by the Sunday Nation.
“The gazette notice No.7499 directive for waiver of fees and charges for maize with effect from July 1 to September 30 refers. Please note that the waiver period will lapse on September 30. You are hereby advised to resume charges for maize and animal feeds from October 1,” Dr Mutui said in the memo.
Outgoing Agriculture cabinet secretary Peter Munya gazetted the waiver in early July as the government tried to control a rise in maize flour prices that had left households spending an average of Sh225 for a 2kg packet of flour.
This would then be followed by a subsidy on sifted maize flour that aimed to reduce prices to Sh100 for a 2kg packet, but which was unsuccessful as the subsidised product was largely unavailable in the market.
Millers now say with the resumption of the charges – despite expected poor harvests in the country due to poor rains that have hit agricultural productivity – they may not have an option but to increase prices further.
A 2kg packet of maize flour is currently retailing below Sh200 on average, with many brands selling at Sh189 at local supermarkets.
In the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Friday, maize flour prices contributed to the largest raise in the inflation rate from 8.5 percent in August to 9.2 percent in September.