Proposal to Lift Miraa Export Duty to Somalia Opposed

Plans to lift trade barriers that have hindered the sale of Miraa (khat) in Somalia are being opposed by the country’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Abdi Aynte.

The minister termed Kenya’s Governor Peter Munya’s statements as ‘disturbing’.

“Troubling statement by Kenya County Governor. Trade is welcome but territorial integrity of Somalia is inviolable,” He said on his Twitter feed.

Troubling statement by #Kenya County Governor. Trade is welcome but territorial integrity of #Somalia is inviolable pic.twitter.com/qRFbeUih98

— Abdi Aynte (@Aynte) July 22, 2016

He proposed.

On Khat/Miraa, I welcome UK decision to ban it. We should embark on a gradual process to disincentivise it w/ robust tax & regulatory regime

— Abdi Aynte (@Aynte) July 22, 2016

But we must first create alternative sources of economy to Khat for the thousands who depend it, especially hard working mothers. #Somalia

— Abdi Aynte (@Aynte) July 22, 2016

“But we must first create alternative sources of economy to Khat for the thousands who depend on it, especially hard working mothers,” he says.

His response comes after Meru governor Peter Munya’s visit in Somalia to lift trade barriers that have hindered the sale of Miraa in the country.

Read:

• Could This be The End for Miraa?
• The Kenyan Economy: Separating Facts from Propaganda

According to Munya,”The miraa market in Somaliland is worth 400 million US dollars with 99 percent of the supplies coming from Ethiopia.  Miraa from Kenya which is highly preferred there is charged 300 percent duty while the one from Ethiopia is charged only 100percent duty making it impossible for our people to compete.”

However, it seems this is the statement that was termed as ‘troubling’, “In my deliberations with the top government officials, I managed to convince the government to appoint a technical committee to review the duty in exchange of some form of recognition of the Republic of Somaliland by the Kenyan Government.”

In June, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed a 14 member task force on the development of the miraa industry, after a controversial export ban in European markets that left farmers with excess stock.

The task force has three months to complete its assignment. It is chaired by Mr Geoffrey Nchooro M’mwenda.

The United Kingdom had offered a major market for Miraa exports from Kenya until it placed a controversial ban on the crop in June 2014.

It is not only the farmers who were hurt with the burn , but also the Kenya’s national Carrier Kenya Airways accounted for 10 per cent of its total cargo revenue or Sh860 million.

The National Assembly has already passed a Bill categorizing miraa as a cash crop. The National Treasury has already allocated Sh1 billion for crop diversification programme for Meru Miraa farmers this FY2016/17.