William Ruto Hints Sugar Prices Will Reduce In 2 Weeks: "We Have Ordered Imports"

• President William Ruto assured Kenyans that the government was burning the midnight oil to bring down the cost of sugar
• He attributed the high prices of the commodity to a shortage of cane in the local and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) markets
• The Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader revealed the government had issued licenses to different stakeholders in the sector to import sugar

President William Ruto has assured Kenyans that sugar prices will drop in the next two weeks.

While addressing the nation on Wednesday, August 2, the head of state acknowledged the cost of sugar had skyrocketed since he took the oath of office.

Ruto attributed the high prices of the commodity to a shortage of cane in the local and COMESA markets.

He explained that his administration was streamlining the sugarcane sector, that has been riddled with confusion and mismanagement for years.

"We have had confusion and chaos in the whole sugar subsector. The reason why many companies have closed shop temporarily is because there is no cane to harvest.

We have been reluctant to import sugar to avoid working against our farmers, but now, in the next two weeks, you will see a difference as we have ordered imports from outside the COMESA market," Ruto said.

The Kenya Kwanza Alliance leader revealed the government had issued licenses to different stakeholders in the sector to import sugar.

Kenyans resort to using sukari nguru

The high cost of sugar has seen Kenyans resort to cheaper alternatives as sweeteners.

Low-income families have turned to jaggery, commonly referred to as sukari nguru to sweeten their tea.

Mary Nyaboke, a resident of Pipeline in Nairobi, revealed she breaks jaggery into small pieces and adds them to porridge since she cannot afford to buy sugar.

"I have tried giving my children porridge without sugar, but they wouldn’t touch it. So, I use sukari nguru," Nyaboke told Citizen Digital.

Sugar prices in Kenya

A spot check by TUKO.co.ke showed a 2kg packet of sugar retailed between KSh 450 to KSh 510 across supermarkets and small retail shops.

A kilo pack of sugar goes between KSh 235 to KSh 260, and this is expected to rise further due to limited supply to satisfy the over 180,000 tonnes of sugar demand in the country.

Kenyans are staring at a further increase in sugar prices after the government introduced excise duty on imports and temporarily shut down local production.

The introduction of the excise duty followed the implementation of the Finance Act 2023 after the court lifted stay orders on Friday, July 28.

President William Ruto's administration introduced an excise duty of KSh 5 per kilogramme of imported sugar to promote local manufacturing.