Dismay as cost of basic commodities shoots up in Kenya

By LONAH KIBET

KENYA: Prices of most consumer goods shot up by approximately Sh7 starting on Tuesday.

The ripple effect was highly felt in products such as milk and stationery as most supermarkets increased prices.

Many parents not aware of the new changes reacted harshly to the move.

Depending on the manufacturer, the price of processed milk ranged between Sh50 and Sh56, up from Sh45 by Tuesday morning. Prices of phones had gone up by 16 per cent. This is as a result of the VAT Act 2013, which came into effect on Monday.

The law exempts bread, rice, milk, wheat, milk formula for infants, maize flour, first aid kits, vaccines, bandages and sanitary towels from the tax.

A spot check by The Standard revealed that the price of milk in most supermarkets in Nairobi had increased. 

Anne Njeri, a businesswoman in Nairobi and a mother of three could not hide her disappointment as she walked out of a supermarket.

New prices

Njeri said her family consumes two packets of milk because of their two little children but the new prices and their financial situation could not allow them to buy more packets.

Consumers Federation of Kenya (Cofek) in a statement yesterday said the implementation of the new law would realise more challenges than the noble intentions behind it.

Cofek Secretary General Stephen Mutoro said the practicality of the National Treasury, arguing that it would rather tax consumption to incentivise production will instead realise continued rise in consumer prices, which will be unstoppable.

He added that from their informed assessment, they projected that inflation will rise to double digit by end of the month and that foreign direct investments will dip by at least 50 per cent by end of the year.