Bid to bring back Bill on cheap beer hits snag
What you need to know:
- The amendment would have required Treasury Cabinet Secretary grant a remission of duty by 90 per cent for beer that has at least 75 per cent content of either sorghum, millet or cassava.
- “The proposal must go to the Budget Committee which must talk to the Treasury about it. That clause was not in the original Bill,” said Mr Gichigi.
Members of Parliament have thwarted an attempt to reintroduce tax waivers for alcoholic drinks meant for the low end of the local market.
Members of the Budget and Appropriations Committee dismissed an amendment by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa to a Bill that would have seen duty on beer made from sorghum, millet or cassava in Kenya reduced.
Mr Ichung’wa had argued that the change would have reduced the consumption of illicit alcohol while improving the livelihoods of farmers who grow the three crops.
The amendment would have required Treasury Cabinet Secretary grant a remission of duty by 90 per cent for beer that has at least 75 per cent content of either sorghum, millet or cassava.
ADDED ADVANTAGE
“Where I come from, we have had deaths, people losing their eyesight because of taking illicit alcohol,” the Kikuyu MP said.
But he was stopped in his tracks by members Samuel Gichigi (Kipipiri, APK) and Makali Mulu (Kitui Central, Wiper) who argued that the proposed amendment was taken to the House irregularly.
“The proposal must go to the Budget Committee which must talk to the Treasury about it. That clause was not in the original Bill,” said Mr Gichigi.
Mr Mulu argued that despite the its good intentions it be improper to approve the amendment without following due process.
