In summary
- Celine Awuor of International For Legislative Affairs says that removing the section is retrogressive and will make the excisable goods like alcohol and tobacco products more affordable
- Ms. Owuor says that tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory disorders.
Anti Tobacco crusaders have intensified calls on government to impose higher taxation on tobacco and alcohol products to make them less affordable.
The activists have specifically taken issue with the proposals to repeal in the Finance Bill 2020 repeal section 10 of the Excise Duty Act 2015 which speaks on the need to adjust inflation rates annually.
Celine Awuor of International For Legislative Affairs says that removing the section is retrogressive and will make the excisable goods like alcohol and tobacco products more affordable.
“From the prposals that we have seen in the Finance Bill 2023, proposals to repeal section 10 of the Excise Duty Act. We describe this move as retrogressive and does not also stand for what the government is advocating for which is generation of revenue via taxes.
“With that section being removed, we stand to lose a lot first on the basis of the revenue that the government collects over time and that will take us back to the years before this provision was provided for in the law,” said Awuor.
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Ms. Owuor says that tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory disorders.
“Non- Communicable diseases are a huge public concern that lead in admissions in public hospitals. These diseases account for the high level of mortality rates and even admissions in public hospitals,” she said.
KETCA Chairman Joel Gitali has in the meantime reiterated the need to give farmers in tobacco growing areas like Migori alternative crops for farming.
According to Gitali, tobacco has impoverished many people in the region and has caused many deaths due to the intense chemicals used to grow and preserve the tobacco plants.
“Tobacco farmers are living in poverty they have no food and are living in poor houses. Their children don’t perform well in school because their parents spend better part of their finances and days in hospitals after catching tobacco related diseases,” said Gitali.
He hailed the farmers in Migori who have already ditched tobacco farming and are now growing alternative crops like beans and maize.
