NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 28 – Small-scale traders have vowed to stage demonstrations every Friday until the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) agrees to fresh negotiations over the upward review of the customs benchmark for consolidated cargo.
The traders’ position sets the stage for continued protests in Nairobi’s commercial centres, where a section of businesses remained closed on Friday in opposition to the increase in the minimum yield for a 40-foot consolidated container from Sh2.5 million to Sh3.2 million.
The Small Traders Association says it will sustain the demonstrations until KRA invites them to the negotiating table, arguing that the 28 percent increase threatens the survival of micro-importers, wholesalers and retailers who rely on consolidated shipments, particularly from China.
“These sudden punitive increases pose an immediate structural threat to the baseline survival of micro importers, local wholesale networks and everyday retail traders,” a traders’ representative said.
“We will hold demonstrations every Friday until KRA invites us for talks. They have refused to talk to us physically and only talk to us via X,” another representative said.
The traders’ position, however, differs from KRA’s account of how the new benchmark was arrived at.
KRA Commissioner for Customs and Border Control Lilian Nyawanda said the Sh3.2 million benchmark was the outcome of engagements between the authority, traders, consolidators and other industry stakeholders.
She said the parties held several meetings before reaching an agreement on the benchmark and its implementation date, with KRA maintaining that the discussions were documented.
Nyawanda said the authority had also given traders 30 days to prepare for the new benchmark, which took effect on August 21.
“The 3.2 million per four feet container is not a new tax.”
“We have had several engagements and agreed on this amount. We even further went ahead and agreed on an implementation date.”
Nyawanda said the benchmark was based on an analysis of the values of similar goods imported through consolidated cargo over previous years and represented the minimum expected customs yield from a 40-foot container under the simplified clearance arrangement.
Earlier, KRA in a statement maintained that the figure was not a fixed tax, saying actual customs liability remains dependent on the transaction value, classification and nature of goods imported.
KRA said the review was driven by changes in tax rates, exchange rates, freight and insurance costs and the broader cost of imported goods since the previous Sh2.5 million benchmark was introduced in the 2022/23 financial year.
