By Eddah Waithaka
Kenya’s tobacco taxation policy currently scores poorly against best practice. In 2021, the country received a score of only 0.88 out of a possible 5 on the Tobacconomics Scorecard, with 5 representing optimal standards. Advocates for reducing tobacco use in Kenya have called on the government to increase taxes on tobacco and tobacco products. This increase is aimed at reducing youth consumption, lowering addiction rates, and addressing related health issues.
At the 3rd Annual Conference on Tobacco Taxation organized by the National Taxpayers Association (NTA) on Thursday, Celine Awuor, Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute Legislative Affairs, emphasized that taxation is a powerful yet underutilized strategy to curb tobacco use. She highlighted its potential effectiveness in reducing tobacco use and addressing related public health challenges.
“We want cigarettes and tobacco products to be expensive so that they are out of reach of children, we are having new products that are cheap and relatively affordable meaning the young people are able to access and pick up these habits early and then get hooked into addiction, ” Awuor said.
” Kenya is currently having a challenge in taxing new products like oral nicotine pouches and electric cigarettes whose tax regime is still not strong, we tax our cigarettes based on whether they contain filters or not, yet evidence by World Health Organization (WHO) shows that we should have uniform simple taxation for all tobacco products, ” said Awuor.
Awuor also noted that Kenya is struggling to tax emerging tobacco products, such as oral nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes. She noted that the tax framework is inadequate and has not been reviewed since the legislation was enacted in 2007.
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Dr. Naomi Shaban, Chairperson of the Tobacco Board, echoed Awuor’s concerns, emphasizing that the 2007 Tobacco Control Act does not address the influx of newer smokeless products that currently dominate the market.
” We are in the process of reviewing theaw to fill that gap. We need to ensure the law reflects the reality of the products currently being consumed, ” she said.
Dr. Toro noted that the average rate of tobacco use among the country’s adult population is approximately 11%. Notably, men have a significantly higher prevalence than women, with 19.1% of men and 4.5% of women reported as tobacco users.
” We want to reduce that significantly so that we can green it down to the standards that are required, ” he said.
