An amendment on the Excise Duty Bill, 2015 passed in Parliament last week, will see the cost of buying cigarettes reduced by lowering taxes on them.
In the amendment 1,000 cigarettes, known as a mille, will now be subjected to Sh900 taxation. This is a drop in the Sh2,500 initially recommended.
According to Ainamoi MP Benjamin Langat, who moved the amendment, the move is aimed at providing Kenyan smokers with quality cigarettes at an affordable price.
The Star quotes the head of the International Institute for Legislative Affairs Vincent Kimosop saying the bill would also affect the country's standing in the global community, where it is respected as a champion in tobacco control.
Kimosop raised concerns that Kenya was reducing taxes on tobacco unlike most countries which are hiking taxes on cigarettes to discourage smoking and lower cases of cancer and heart diseases.
"The amendments clearly work in favour of the tobacco companies,” he added.
The World Health Organization recently released a report showing that over 8 Billion sticks of cigarettes are smoked in Kenya every year.
Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance Chairman, Joel Gitali told The Standard, that despite the heath hazards, cigarette smoking in the country has continued to increase.
This has in turn been linked to the rise of diseases like lung cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases.
The bill now awaits assent by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This is bound to cause an uproar from cancer advocates who see the amendment as an encouragement to smoke.
