Want your kids to eat in school? Then be ready to be taxed as RUTO plans to introduce another levy to fund school feeding programme

Thursday, June 13, 2024 – As the debate rages over the move by the government to stop the school feeding programme after Treasury slashed its budget, President William Ruto now plans to introduce another tax to support the programme.

This was revealed by Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang, who intimated government plans to introduce a new levy on some imported junk food items to fund the school feeding programme.

Appearing before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Education, Kipsang revealed that the Ministry was in talks with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) over the possibility of imposing a levy on imported junk foods.

He detailed that the plan was to ringfence the levy to ensure that all the money collected goes to the feeding programme.

The PS explained that the adoption of the levy was one of the strategies aimed at funding the programme that was undergoing financial constraints.

However, more details such as the levy rate and the possible start date of the levy were not revealed.

Some of the notable junk foods that are consumed by Kenyans include cakes, biscuits, chocolate and sweets, processed meat such as bacon and sugary drinks among others.

Notably, the school feeding programme is one of the areas that witnessed budget cuts in the upcoming budget.

In the 2024/2025 programme, Ksh3 billion has been allocated to the programme in comparison with Ksh5.4 billion in the current budget.

Therefore, with a plan to increase the funding through the levy, many students are expected to benefit.

The Kenyan DAILY POST