Transporters Expose Governors Charging Illegal Taxes
The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) has spoken out against the levies imposed by several county governments, which charge extra fees of between Ksh500 and Ksh30,000 per truck. The KTA has termed these levies as both unlawful and unconstitutional.
In a petition submitted to President William Ruto, the Prime Cabinet Secretary, the Council of Governors, and the Attorney General, KTA has named multiple counties allegedly violating the Constitution by imposing the fees on national roads and transit routes.
The petition, signed by KTA Chairman Newton Wang’oo,accuses several counties of charging transportersfor passing through their jurisdictions without stopping, parking, or receiving services.
According to the association, these levies are unlawful and economically damaging, paralysing their truck business.
The transporters have specifically exposed seven counties for charging extra fees on truck transporters, they include;
KTA also accused other counties of misinterpreting and misusing branding and distribution permit laws to pester transporters.
They accused the devolved units of charging branding levies to transporters for displaying a company name on the face of a truck. They also accused them of demanding annual distribution permits ranging from Ksh60,000 to Ksh150,000 per truck for one-off deliveries within their jurisdictions.
The association warned that these charges are fuelling graft at county checkpoints, inflating the cost of doing business, and driving up commodity prices nationwide.
KTA is demanding an immediate halt to these levies and calling for a comprehensive legal review of all county bylaws.
It has urged both national and county legal departments to eliminate provisions that violate the Constitution and adopt lawful,sustainable revenue alternatives.
“Counties must stop collecting these unlawful levies and adopt lawful, sustainable revenue alternatives. The legal departments of both the National and County Governments must review all bylaws across the 47 counties to ensure full compliance with Article 209(5) of the Constitution,” KTA’s statement read in part.
