Mombasa residents to pay up to Sh1,000 for cats and dogs

Mombasa County residents who keep animals will pay up to Sh1,000 per head if proposals by the Joho-led government are adopted.

Mombasa will start licensing rearing of poultry and cattle under the Finance Bill for the year that started July.

Rearing of animals in the tourism hub is set to be costly after the administration introduced new levies in its 2018/2019 Finance Bill. Cattle and camels will attract an annual charge of Sh1,000 per head while each goat, sheep, dog and cat will set back the owner by Sh200.

Those rearing at least 200 birds will pay Sh100 for each and poultry dealers with less than 200 will pay Sh200 apiece. The proposed law has sparked an outrage with residents lamenting that the levy will hurt farming.

Goat farmer John Gunga said it is ironical that Governor Joho urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to suspend the 16 per cent value added tax on petroleum products to cushion Kenyans from the high cost of living yet he is also overcharging residents with more taxes. Mr Joho had said that Kenyans were overburdened by low earnings, unemployment and inflation.

“The governor is not sincere, how does he remove a speck from his brother’s eye while his eyes glitter with the same material?” he asked.

The county has been seeking extra revenue to revamp roads and boost health infrastructure.

Mr Joho failed in his attempt to start charging taxes on shipping containers at Mombasa port following pressure from the national government.

He planned to generate billions in fees from the port. The central government opposed the levies warning that they could undermine recent reforms to speed up the processing of goods through the port.

County executive in charge of agriculture Hassan Mwamtoa on Monday urged Mombasa residents opposed to the proposed taxes to appear at the County Assembly public participation hearings.