Why this is not the time to tax clean cooking
Tuesday, June 16, 2020 0:01
By BERNARD OSAWA |
Experts have said all along that the elderly, smokers, and those with pre-existing conditions are most at-risk of Covid-19.
The government exempted clean cook stoves and Liquefied Petroleum Gas(LPG) from VAT in 2016, a move designed to accelerate uptake of safe alternatives to firewood, charcoal and kerosene-based cooking.
Kenya received international recognition for the forward-thinking decision, and the clean cooking sector has seen significant growth in the intervening years.
The 2020 Finance bill proposes the reintroduction of 14percent VAT on clean cook stoves and LPG, a move that risks increasing the price of clean cooking for consumers and which contradicts government efforts to shift consumers from use of wood fuel to cleaner fuels like LPG and bio-ethanol to conserve our forests and protect families from indoor air pollution.
In Kenya, 21,560 deaths from dirty cooking every year is more than three times the national road accident toll.
