Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba has appealed to President William Ruto over the recently gazetted levies on the coffee value chain ahead of his Mt Kenya tour scheduled to kick off on Tuesday next week.
In a statement issued by Gathoni on Sunday, the vocal legislator maintained that as a region, they were not comfortable with the proposed levies on the coffee sector, maintaining that farmers were not consulted.
''Dear Mr President, as you prepare to visit the Central region please note that we are uncomfortable with your latest proposed and gazzetted levies on coffee value chain,'' Wamuchomba implored.
''Your CS in charge of Treasury and Economic Planning gazetted a regulation introducing new levies on coffee sales without farmers consultations and clearance by National Assembly. This was on February 7, 2025.''
According to Gathoni, the levies gazetted by Treasury CS John Mbadi on February 7 this year, Direct Settlement System (DSS) fees levied on coffee sales transactions as part of the settlement and payment process through the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) were unlawful as they exposed farmers to double charges.
Additionally, the lawmaker raised an issue with the DSS payment, maintaining that brokers pay annual fees to the system, yet the proposals had a clause for the payment of transaction costs.
''Why should DSS earn from transactions of sales yet they charge every transaction as a bank? Do other banks charge their customers money from the source?'' Wamuchomba questioned.
Further, Wamuchomba revealed that despite writing to the President on the system, she was yet tp get a response on why the government had made changes to the coffee sector payment methods.
''DSS was tendered as a bank service, has it become a new institution or entity and under which laws?
I have addressed this matter here since the letter I sent to Mr President two weeks ago was not responded to,'' Wamuchomba revealed.
The Githunguri MP consequently appealed to President Ruto to nullify the proposed changes to the payment system to allow for consultations.
''Mr President, Farmers are going to be deducted these levies if implemented. As you prepare to visit us, pls nullify the regulations, and let’s have consultations with stakeholders,'' she added.
The proposed transactional levies payable to coffee brokers are allocated as follows: brokers' fee at 1 per cent, coffee exchange fees at 0.3 per cent, DSS fees at 0.3 per cent, and Capital Market Authority(CMA) statutory fees at 0.2 per cent—bringing the total deductions to 1.8 per cent per transaction.
The demands on the coffee sector, which have been faced by the crisis over prices and bonuses, come at a time when President Ruto will be facing a loyalty test during his Mt Kenya tour, coming a few months after the impeachment of his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
Gachagua has been on an active mission to regain the political control of the region and battle the influence of his successor, Kithure Kindiki.
