Hidden tax in Kenya’s Finance Bill 2026/2027 will make food more expensive in Nairobi
Food producers are less perturbed, they know they can always push the costs down to the final consumer, who is now the one to feel the pinch.
Black News 
There is a hidden tax in President William Ruto’s Finance Bill 2026 which, according to observers, could make some types of food and drinks more expensive in Kenya.
In fact, almost all consumables marketed or sold in urban areas are being targeted.
With only a few weeks to go before the Fiscal Year 2026/2027 Budget is tabled at the National Assembly in Nairobi, people have discovered some hidden tariff codes on the 28th page of the proposed document.
On page 28, under tariff codes 3923.30.00 and 3923.90.90, the Government of Kenya is proposing a new 10 percent excise duty on all plastic packaging articles.
At the moment, the current excise duty on such plastic items reads zero percent.
After July 2026, each plastic package will attract a 10 percent tax.
Usually, almost every food item retailed in Kenya and the rest of East Africa come packaged.
Milk comes mostly in plastic bottles or sachets.
Fresh drinking water is also sold in plastic containers, bottles and sachets.
Even cheap assorted juices that contain preservatives are usually contained in plastic.
Sodas and other types of carbonated water have also moved to plastic from glass bottles.
Plastic packages have also replaced tins in storing cooking oil, fat, margarine, Ghee and butter.
In addition, the fast-food outlets serve takeaways in plastic containers.
Bread, Salt, and many other food items come wrapped in plastic.
Even farm produce that serves as raw materials for food production are usually packed in plastic crates for transportation.
And now there is a new tax targeting anything plastic.
Food producers are less perturbed, they know they can always push the costs down to the final consumer, who is now the one to feel the pinch.
This, according to grieving Kenyans is how the cost of living rises quietly under William Ruto’s fifth phase Government.
Apparently, the Kenyan government is not taxing the food directly.
Rather, the taximan in Nairobi is slamming such tariffs on the bottle, the wrapper and the container.
And by the time prices go up at the supermarkets, hotels and retail stores most people in Kenya won’t know where the sudden risen charges came from.
Not realizing they are also paying for the disposable container which soon goes into the bin after the food is consumed.
