Nairobi residents should brace for tougher times ahead as Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) moves to enforce a tax on cereals entering the city.

In a move that will likely see the extra cost is passed on to consumers, KRA and Nairobi County Government officials will demand the cess from the owners of the products or the millers.

“Please take note that KRA and Nairobi City County Government shall with effect from March 1, 2022, commence collection of cess on cereals from products being brought into your members’ premises,” said KRA Commissioner for County Revenue Division Annastaciah Githuba in a letter to Cereal Millers Association. 

Among the products to be affected include wheat which will have a direct bearing on the prices of wheat, rice and maize flour.

This could spike the cost of bread as Kenyans experience a higher cost of flour triggered by growing global demand for wheat following the closure of ports in Ukraine and disruption to supplies from Russia, the two countries which account for a third of global wheat exports.

The taxman said the cessing will be undertaken by KRA officers outside the premises of the millers. However, Kennedy Nyaga chairman of United Grain Millers Association, an umbrella body of small-scale millers told Business Hub that they are yet to see the letter by KRA.