President Uhuru Kenyatta has said the Government will implement recommendations of the sugar Taskforce as part of ongoing efforts to revive the sector.
The President made the assurance today at State House, Nairobi when he received the report of the Presidential Taskforce on the Sugar Sector.
President Kenyatta told the taskforce co-chaired by Agriculture CS Peter Munya and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya that the Government is keen to ensure Kenyan sugarcane farmers earn decent incomes from their crop.
“As leaders ours is to ensure farmers get maximum returns from their sweat,” the President said as received the report whose key recommendations include the re-introduction of the sugar levy, privatization of public sugar mills to enhance their efficiency and the enactment of the Sugar Act.
The sugar levy will be charged on consumers so as to raise the revenue needed to assist farmers to develop their sugarcane crop.
Other proposed reforms include the gazettement of the sugar sector regulations including import rules, amendment of the AFA Act and Crops Act inline with the 2010 Constitution, and a review of the taxation regime in the sector to enhance investor incentives.
The taskforce also proposed strict compliance with the COMESA regulations and outlined a raft reforms needed to increase the sugar sector’s productivity.
