The Kenya Kwanza administration has embarked on its promise to lower the cost of living by mapping out select shops that will sell rice, cooking oil, sugar, wheat and beans at cheaper prices.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria affirmed that the initiative targetted 500,000 shops across the country.
The move, according to Kuria, prioritised shops from the low-income regions.
The programme is slated to run for a year as the government projects the cost of basic food items to decrease by 30 percent.
Farmers were advised to capitalise on the program by utilising the cheaper basic items as well as subsidised fertiliser.
According to Kuria, the government anticipates to be self-sufficient at the end of the program.
In a bid to facilitate these commodities, the government, in conjunction with the Kenya National Trading Corporation (KNTC) secured credit from international and local banks.
The CS, however, did not reveal the criteria used by his Ministry in mapping out the shops and the names of the shops targetted.
Under the duty-free scheme announced on February 20, 2023, the Treasury approved the importation of 150,000 metric tonnes of rice, 125,000 metric tonnes of cooking oil or fat, 200,000 metric tonnes of sugar, 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat and 80,000 metric tonnes of beans.
An additional 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat was donated to the country by the government of Ukraine.
"The approval is in accordance with the provisions of Section 114 (2) of the East African Community Customs Management Act 2004 and the provisions of paragraph 20 of Part B of the Fifth Schedule to the Act," the Tax authority noted.
Under the agreement, only the five listed products and the donation qualify for duty-free importation. Any other product outside the approved list shall be charged at the applicable East African Community Common External Tariff rates.
