The Ministry of Agriculture has announced that the Sugar Development Levy payable by a section of Kenyans took effect on July 1.
In a statement on Tuesday, July 8, the ministry announced that the levy will be remitted by the tenth day of every month and that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will be the collecting agent.
The levy will be payable by every miller and every person who imports sugar at the rate of 4 per cent of the ex-factory price for domestic sugar and 4 per cent of the cost, insurance, and freight (CIF) value of each consignment of imported sugar.
"The State Department for Agriculture would like to inform members of the public that the Sugar Development Levy is now in effect from July 1, 2025," the statement read.
"The levy shall be remitted by the tenth day of the month immediately following the month when the domestic sugar is manufactured and by the tenth day of the month immediately following the month when the sugar was imported."
After the announcement, the ministry disclosed that KRA would shortly send out a message offering advice on the collection method.
The government will invest Ksh4 billion of the levy to the sugar industry annually, according to a statement made by Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe a few weeks ago.
Kagwe stated that the yearly investment would help support the sugar industry to ensure stability and better returns to the industry during his June 16 visit to the West Kenya Sugar Company.
“These investments are designed to secure the long-term sustainability of the sugar industry,” CS Kagwe said.
40 per cent of this investment will be allocated to cane development programmes across the country, while the remaining 60 per cent will support the development of other strategic sectors aimed at positively growing the sugar industry.
For example, 15 per cent of the latter, approximately Ksh600 million, will be utilised for the rehabilitation of roads in sugarcane-growing regions. A similar sum will be invested in research and innovation to enhance industry productivity, and another Ksh600 million will be dedicated to factory rehabilitation across the sector.
About Ksh2 million or five per cent will be allocated to strengthening farmer organisations, while the remaining 10 per cent will be utilised for administrative operations under the Sugar Board.
