By Dionysus Walubengo
The current tiff surrounding the revised minimum yield for consolidated cargo rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of institutional responsibility.
Misinformed voices have directed their frustration at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), as though it conjured a new tax from thin air and imposed it upon an unsuspecting trading public. The truth is considerably different.
For starters, KRA is not a lawmaker. Its statutory mandate is faithful enforcement of the implementation of tax laws enacted by bodies vested with the constitutional authority to make them.
To attack KRA for the revision of a tax benchmark is to aim at the wrong entity entirely. The foregoing notwithstanding, the genesis of cargo consolidation itself underscores KRA’s facilitative rather than punitive orientation.
The mechanism was institutionalised in Kenya in 2016/17 as a deliberate trade facilitation measure for small-scale importers whose parcels cannot fill a container.
By pooling goods, such traders do access more affordable logistics and simplified clearance procedures.
This arrangement was designed to encourage entrepreneurship among smaller players, not to strangle it. KRA has consistently supported this framework because it aligns with the Authority’s dual mandate of facilitating legitimate trade while protecting Government revenue.
The revised minimum yield that took effect on 21 August 2026 has been widely mischaracterised as a new tax.
It is not. It is merely a benchmark, and a risk-management reference used under the simplified clearance arrangement to identify containers that merit further verification.
The actual tax liability for any consignment is determined by the nature, value, and classification of the goods, in accordance with Section 122 and the Fourth Schedule of the East African Community Customs Management Act.
The benchmark does not replace that assessment. It simply serves as a trigger for it.Crucially, the tax revision was not imposed unilaterally.
Extensive consultations were held with industry stakeholders, and the figure was agreed with trader representatives in July 2026.
When stakeholders requested additional time to prepare, KRA granted a one-month grace period, demonstrating a willingness to listen that is seldom acknowledged by those now protesting the loudest.
For the record, a number of consolidators are already complying with the agreement, and KRA is facilitating them accordingly.
Those who frame the matter as a contest between a predatory tax authority and defenceless small traders are overlooking the macroeconomic realities that made the revision necessary.
The operating environment has changed significantly since the last review in 2022/23.
Exchange rates have depreciated, freight charges have risen sharply, and statutory instruments enacted since January 2022—including the Finance Acts of 2023 through 2026 and various EAC Gazette notices—have introduced new levies and adjusted existing ones.
The benchmark needed to reflect these changes to remain relevant to prevailing trading conditions.
The political dimension of the current outcry merits scrutiny. Politicians working in the shadows are using certain elements to manufacture spectacles for political rather than commercial ends.
Small traders, whose legitimate concerns deserve respectful attention, are being incited to reject a framework that was designed for their benefit.
The aim appears to be the conversion of a technical adjustment into a theatre of grievance, with KRA cast as the villain.Make no mistake, KRA supports cargo consolidation, supports small traders, and remains open to dialogue.
Traders who consider the benchmark unsuitable for their goods may opt out of the simplified arrangement and request verification of their containers, or de-consolidate their cargo and make individual declarations.
The law has not changed. The assessment of duty remains anchored in transaction value. What has changed is the minimum yardstick against which consolidated consignments are evaluated.
That change was agreed upon by crucial parties, not imposed.
The boundaries of KRA’s role are therefore plain. It implements what Parliament and the EAC Council of Ministers enact. It consults before adjusting administrative benchmarks and enforces the law without fear or favour. Walubengo is a sugarcane farmer in Bungoma County
