High Court addresses new fuel tax

Kenya’s High Court has declined to suspend the recently introduced 16% tax on petroleum products despite suits by the Central Organisation for Trade Unions (Cotu) and activist Okiya Omtatah who argue that the levy is illegal. The Daily Nation reports that Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita ordered Cotu and Omtatah to furnish the National Treasury, the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Attorney-General with their legal papers and to return to court today (Monday). ‘The court cannot afford to hide under the doctrine of judicial deference. It has to listen to the voice of the people,’ Omtatah said. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Kenyan MP Nelson Koech has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly to convene a special sitting to discuss the fuel taxes. He has informed Adan Duale that there was a public outcry over the high prices of fuel – US$1.26 per litre in Nairobi. The fuel tax was introduced despite lawmakers amending the Finance Act 2018 to effectively delay the implementation of the tax by two years.