MPs urge govt to waive levies and licenses on sugar and tea

Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture have urged the government to waive licenses and levies on sugar and tea so as to bring down costs for hard-pressed farmers.

Last month, President Uhuru Kenyatta, while delivering his State of the Nation address, ordered that all coffee licenses and levies be immediately waived.

The Head of State said the move was aimed at increasing by four per cent the revenues farmers get.

The waiving of the licenses and levies on coffee came as a huge relief to coffee farmers as they had been lobbying for tax cuts.

On Sunday, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Benjamin Washiali, said the government should also waive licenses and levies on sugarcane and tea.

Speaking to the Nation by phone, Mr Washiali said sugar and tea were also important crops to the country and demanded the waiver of licenses and levies for the two crops.

Mr Washiali, who is also the MP for Mumias, said sugarcane farmers were overburdened by licenses and levies, adding that they too deserved to benefit from the government waiver.

The waiver of licenses and levies, he added, would help bring down production costs and enable farmers earn a good living from their produce.

“Majority of the sugarcane farmers are living in grinding poverty due to license and levy burdens as well as delay in payments,” he said.

The waivers, he added, would encourage farmers to expand sugarcane cultivation and boost the sub-sector’s growth.

Offer subsidy

Mr Washiali also urged the government to offer sugarcane farmers subsidy to cushion them against low prices of cane.

Busia Woman representative Florence Mutua also called on the government to waive licenses and levies on sugarcane for farmers to benefit from the crop.

She said when the farmers get a relief from the license and levy waiver it would motivate them to expand sugarcane production for them to improve their standards of living.

Last week, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Willy Bett said his ministry was preparing a proposal for the waiving of licenses and levies for tea and sugar.

He explained that President Kenyatta ordered him to do a proposal for the waiving of licenses and levies for the two crops.

“We urge tea and sugar farmers to bear with us, as the government is working towards waiving licenses and levies for these crops,” he said.

Mr Bett said when the licenses and levies for tea and sugar are waived by the government, the ministry would also recommend that other crops such as pyrethrum their licenses also to be waived.