The Kenyan President William Ruto has ruled out repeal of the levy on importation of clinker, contradicting an earlier position by the Trade ministry, which had promised to roll back the controversial tax.
The President said the government would not allow clinker imports, arguing that Kenya has sufficient limestone and other raw materials for cement production.
The statement was made against the background of the signing by Bamburi Cement of a contract with an estimated value of 250 million USD for the construction of a clinker plant in Matung, Kwale district. We wrote about this project earlier. Ruto stressed that he did not consider the arguments about the lack of production capacity to be justified, and confirmed his intention to further restrict clinker imports through the current levy.
In October, Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui had said the Executive would petition Parliament to repeal the 17.5 percent levy, citing insufficient local clinker and sub-optimal factory operations. The levy, introduced in July 2023, led clinker imports to fall from 148,000 tonnes in 2023 to 10,300 tonnes last year, with reported impacts on cement consumption and the construction sector.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers, which initially opposed the levy, later said it had enabled investment in clinker and manufacturing plants and warned that repealing it would reverse progress.
