County officials are still using cess, an outdated colonial tax, to impoverish small-scale farmers, a Nation investigation in 15 counties has found. The tax – ranging from Sh40 to Sh3,000 – is levied on farmers and traders at multiple points as they transport goods to the market by dreaded tax collectors. But the biggest irony of cess tax is that it is levied on fresh produce – processed or manufactured ones are spared – even as the country fights to be food-secure. Dealers in non-food items, some of them non-essential, can transport anything across the country without being required to pay cess. The other key finding of the report was that farmers only paid cess when selling their produce in the market, except for wheat and maize farmers, who paid cess on transit to drying facilities.

Source: Daily Nation July 12, 2020 09:47 UTC