Kenyans' woes are set to pile as the price of "unga"
is likely to be increased by at least Sh4 for a 2kg pack.
Last Wednesday, more than 94 small-scale millers met in Nairobi and agreed to raise the price of the 2kg maize packet from Sh90 to Sh98 owing to the 16 VAT fuel levy effected by Treasury CS Henry Rotich.
However,
on Friday last week, President Uhuru Kenyatta proposed the reduction of the fuel levy to 8% and returned the Finance Bill 2018 back to Parliament.
Because of the new development, if MPs approve Uhuru's proposal, millers
will increase the price by Sh4.
On Tuesday, NASA lawmakers and their
Jubilee counterparts held parliamentary group meetings and agreed to back the President.
However, NASA gave conditions that should be met within a year. The bill will be discussed in a plenary sitting on Tuesday (today).
Chairman of United Grain Millers Association
Peter Kuguru said
they
increased the
price because of the high cost
of production.
In an interview with the Star on Monday, Kuguru said they will
share the fuel levy with consumers to reduce the burden.
"The price will remain so if we get a bumper maize harvest," he said.
Last year, the millers had warned the price of maize flour would shoot up due to unsteady supply by the government.
Former Cereal Millers Association (CMA) chairman Nick Hutchinson told Parliament they had run out of stock forcing them to rely heavily on imported maize.
Small-scale dealers make at least 70 per cent of millers in Kenya, while the CMA makes the remaining 30 per cent.
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