The High Court in Kisumu has ordered the government to make public details of the duty-free importation of 490,000 metric tonnes of Grade 1 milled white rice amidst protests from rice farmers.
Justice Alfred Mabeya certified the matter urgent and directed the ministry of Treasury, Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to account within seven days how the scheme is being run.
Ahero Rice Farmers Association filed a petition seeking detailed information on the programme established under Gazette Notice No. 10061 of 6 July 2026, which allows the duty-free importation of 490,000 metric tonnes of Grade 1 milled white rice.
Justice Mabeya ordered the ministries to make public the complete list of all approved importers, and of all licensed and prequalified importers.
Also to be made public are the quantities allocated to each importer, and the quantities already imported and cleared be availed for scrutiny.
The government will also avail the customs entry numbers relating to each consignment, and all duty exemptions granted, all import permits and approvals issued, and the criteria applied in approving each importer;
Justice Mabeya also ordered the balance of the authorised quota of 490,000 Metric Tonnes remaining under Gazette Notice No. 10061 of 6th July 2026 be availed to court.
The government will also avail the Cabinet Memoranda, policy papers, stakeholder-consultation reports,
records of public participation and economic-impact assessments, if any,
preceding the issuance of the said Gazette Notice.
In the application. Ahero rice farmers want the government to disclose the quantities of rice allocated and the amounts already imported and cleared, customs entry numbers for every consignment, all duty exemptions granted, and the import permits and approvals issued together with the criteria used to grant them.
Ahero Rice Farmers Association Secretary John Oucho said Ahero Irrigation Scheme in the Kano Plains of Kisumu County is one of Kenya’s oldest and largest public rice schemes, whose members depend upon the domestic rice market for their livelihoods.
The Secretary said absent transparency and a quota ceiling, an unregulated influx of duty-free rice will depress farm-gate prices and deny local farmers a competitive market, occasioning severe and, if unchecked, irreparable economic hardship to producers who have already invested in land preparation, irrigation, seed, fertiliser, labour, harvesting and milling.
The rice farmers said the impugned Gazette Notice was issued without meaningful public participation, consultation or engagement with local rice farmers, farmers’ associations, millers or county governments, contrary to Articles 10, 201(a) and 232 of the Constitution.
Oucho said the decision affects the livelihoods, economic interests and legitimate expectations of thousands of rice farmers in Ahero, Mwea, Bunyala, West Kano and other rice-growing regions, yet those most affected were excluded from the
decision-making process.
"A duty waiver upon 490,000 Metric Tonnes of rice is a substantial surrender of public revenue and a transfer of commercial advantage to private importers. The
Constitution requires that such benefits be administered openly, fairly and accountably, and that the public be able to verify that importation does not exceed the deficit which local production cannot meet," said Oucho.
Oucho said whilst they do not seek to stop the rice imports, the programme involves a waiver of substantial public revenue and the conferment of valuable benefits on private importers must be run transparently and within its lawful limits.
Oucho said rice farmers in the Kano Plains and other growing regions have continued to complain of unregulated duty-free imports that flood the market and depress the prices they earn from their harvests.
The association says openness about who is importing how much, and at what point the 490,000-tonne ceiling is reached would allow farmers, taxpayers and the public to verify that the programme stays within bounds.
Oucho said that the government ministries have not disclosed the identities of approved importers, the quantities
allocated, customs entries, duty exemptions, or the remaining balance of the authorised
quota, thereby preventing public oversight and accountability.
"Unless this Honourable Court intervenes urgently to direct disclosure and preservation of the relevant records, substantial portions of the authorised quota may be allocated and imported before the legality and constitutionality of the impugned decision can be examined," said Oucho.
The farmers said the principal relief sought does not seek to halt lawful importation but rather to secure transparency, accountability, preservation of evidence and compliance with constitutional principles.
In the petition the farmers want KRA to establish and maintain a publicly accessible register of every consignment cleared under Gazette Notice No. 10061, specifying the importer, the quantity cleared, and the running total against the authorised ceiling of 490,000 Metric Tonnes.
The farmers sought to have the ministries restrained from authorising, facilitating or permitting importation beyond the total tonnage of 490,000 Metric Tonnes sanctioned by Gazette Notice No. 10061.
The farmers also asked the ministries
be restrained from issuing, processing or approving any import permit, customs exemption, quota allocation or clearance under Gazette Notice No. 10061 until it is done in accordance with publicly disclosed and objectively verifiable criteria.
Oucho said the farmers seeks first that the programme be implemented transparently, accountably, and within the authorised ceiling of 490,000 Metric Tonnes.
"The impugned Gazette Notice was issued without meaningful public participation, consultation or engagement with local rice farmers, farmers’ associations, millers or county governments, contrary to Articles 10, 201(a)," said Oucho.
He said the ministries have neither published the basis of the decision nor established any mechanism by which the public may verify that the programme is administered
within its authorised limits, contrary to Articles 10, 35, 47, 201 and 232 of the Constitution and the Fair Administrative Action Act, 2015.
"The orders primarily sought would not halt a single lawful consignment; they require only disclosure, verification and adherence to the authorised ceiling," said Oucho.
He said suspension is sought only in the alternative if the government decline to comply with the transparency orders.
"Public interest, and in the interest of justice, that a programme affecting food security, public revenue and the livelihoods of thousands of farmers be
implemented strictly in accordance with the Constitution and after meaningful engagement with those affected," said Oucho.
Justice Mabeya certified the matter urgent and directed that the relevant government ministries be served immediately, with the case to be mentioned on July 20 2026 for further directions.
