The Bar Hotels Liquor Traders Association of Kenya (BAHLITA) has urged the government not to increase the excise duty on alcoholic drinks as this will further cripple the sector that is recovering from the effects of Covid-19.
This comes ahead of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA)planned excise duty inflation adjustment that is expected to increase taxes on alcoholic products from October 1.
Speaking to the media, BAHLITA Secretary General Boniface Gachoka noted that increasing the tax on alcoholic products will make people opt for other cheaper alternatives which in most cases are illicit brews.
“We are completely against the plan to raise the prices of beer and other alcoholic drinks. When you increase the price of legal alcohol, what you are doing is pushing our clients to drink illicit brews such as chang’aa,” he said.
He further requested the new nominee for the Ministry of National Treasury and Planning Njuguna Ndungu to look into the matter once he settles in his office as the sector is yet to fully recover and another upward revision in the rates may even force the businesses to shut down completely altogether.
“During the Covid-19 period when our entities were shut, we lost over Sh100billion and fired 250,000 of the employees in the sector. When you want to add alcohol prices again for the third time, we have counted from our survey that we will lay off about 80,000 of our employees, where will they go? That will also lead to the closure of some 12,000 clubs, where will those business people go to?” posed Gachoka.
