Tea agency asks Mombasa County officials to waive Sh7,000 levy on tea ferrying trucks

Farmers load some bags of tea leaves into a truck. [File, Standard] The Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) has urged the Mombasa County government to waive the Sh7,000 charged per truck ferrying tea to Mombasa. The levy and charges, it noted, were robbing tea farmers of their bonuses. TBK Chief Executive Willy Mutai said that in every 21,000 kilos being ferried to Mombasa, farmers lose Sh0.5 of their bonus to Mombasa County. "We are urging Mombasa County to consider lifting the Sh7,000 they are charging per trailer. There are almost 400,000 trailers coming to the county from upcountry. It is a huge cost to the farmers' bonus," said Mutai. Mutai also urged all the 47 counties to waive advertising and branding charges on all locally manufactured teas. "We are urging the 47 counties to allow teas manufactured in Kenya not to be charged when they are branding because that is a job opportunity for the youths who are designing the vehicles and the packets. We urge the counties to lift the unnecessary fees and charges between the inter-counties and the Sh7,000 for the Mombasa County," said Mutai. He said that before paying off the bonus to farmers, you remove the cost of production. He spoke in Mombasa during a three-day tea industry stakeholders consultative meeting and tea testing exercise for 70 gardens from the tea produced by the small sub-sector, and factories managed by Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA). He noted that in every kilo of made tea, you use four kilos of the farmer's tea, meaning that in any one trip per lorry, a farmer loses Sh0.5 in the green leaf, which means a loss in the bonus. He urged the 21 counties producing tea to discuss with Mombasa County officials over the issue. "It is the responsibility of the Council of Governors, East African Tea Trade Association, and TBK to make sure they understand that if we charge lorries bringing tea to Mombasa, it will directly impact the price gate for farmers. Mutai said that taxing branded vehicles for inter-county tea is discouraging, and could see youths in the branding business lose jobs. "The youths who are designing the logos will lose their jobs because if the vehicles selling teas are charged from one county to another. It will mean that companies will remove the logos and sell with plain vehicles, and that will lead to loss of branding jobs," said Mutai. He, however, lauded farmers for the quality leaf and promised good prices during this year's auction. "The outcome for this year's tea testing results is very impressive because farmers have pushed up the quality," he said. He also asked the international buyers to give a decent price and expressed optimism for the highest price of seven dollars (Sh910 per kilo). He said the orthodox tea producers are being asked to catalogue their teas by August 28 2025. "So those teas that will be auctioned have been given a chance up to August 28. They will have their own day because now we have enough volume. After all, the government has licensed over 34, which are ready and producing," said Mutai. East Africa Tea Traders Association managing director George Omuga said Kenya is looking forward to processing and packaging its own tea while increasing local consumption to stop relying on export markets. Omuga said that last year, Kenya produced 598 million kilos of tea and only consumed five per cent, and exported 95 per cent in bulk. He urged Kenyans to support tea consumption and increase local value addition. Omuga said that Kenya is exporting raw materials to other countries for value addition, and some of the teas will come back to Kenya. He said President William Ruto agreed to exempt all duties charged on packaging material and machines.

Tea agency asks Mombasa County officials to waive Sh7,000 levy on tea ferrying trucks

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Tea agency asks Mombasa County officials to waive Sh7,000 levy on tea ferrying trucks

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