Kenya Publishers Association (KPA) is urging the government to scrap the 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on books in order to boost literacy in the country.
According to the association, this tax has only made books more expensive, hence unaffordable to the common mwananchi. They also explained that the high cost of living has led to low purchasing power hence low uptake of general reading materials.
Speaking at the media briefing yesterday, Kiarie Kamau, the chairperson of KPA, noted that even though publishers are benefitting from the government textbook tenders, sales of general reading materials through bookshops have diminished.
He added that a quick check on the market indicates that Kenyans are prioritising food, hence other items such as books are put in the backburner
“We therefore call upon the government to scrap VAT on books, as a way of making knowledge affordable to all, hence promoting lifelong learning, and growing the knowledge economy,” Kamau said.
The association also called on the government to tighten piracy, noting that the industry was still grappling with the menace of piracy, especially of their digital products, which are being sold at throwaway prices via social media.
When someone downloads or shares a copyrighted book without paying for it, the author and book publisher lose out on potential revenue.
In January 2023, the association revealed that publishers are losing up to Sh200 million annually to piracy of set books. Additionally, the association urged the government to fast-track the process of signing contracts to allow them to embark on printing and distributing grade 9 books between September and December, ahead of the first term in January 2025.
Kamau further appreciated the government’s work centralising textbooks purchases, noting that so far, more than 150 million copies have been supplied to schools in Kenya.
Mutually beneficial
“Currently, the Kenyan publishing industry is in its golden era, thanks to the government’s commitment to supplying textbooks to public schools,” Kamau added.
He noted that the collaboration has been mutually beneficial as each learner in Kenya has a textbook for each learning area, the government has achieved its goal of supplying high quality teaching and learning materials to schools and Kenyan publishers have benefited from government tenders. Additionally, authors and other professionals in the book chain have gained financially and more jobs have been created in the industry, and the government has also gained through the various taxes paid by publishers.
The association also welcomed the public to the 25th Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF), which will take place from September 25 to 29, 2024, at the Sarit Centre in Westlands, Nairobi.
This year, the theme is celebrating 25 years of excellence and innovation in publishing. A key highlight of the fair will be the awarding of the Jomo Kenyatta prize for Literature in the adult category, youth category and children’s category in both English and Kiswahili.
However, in this year’s award there will not be the Wahome Mutahi prize for literature as none of the books reached the specific standards for the award.
