Small business owners in Kisumu County have today urged the Senate in Nairobi not to pass a provision in the Tobacco Control (Amendment) Bill which seeks to introduce new county-level licensing requirements for the cale of nicotine and tobacco products. 

Sponsored by ODM nominated Senator Catherine Mumma, the Bill is currently before the Senate awaiting committee stage but has received strong reactions from a section of the Kenyan business community, particularly small business owners, over a wide range of issues among them lack of adequate public participation and now the proposal for county licensing. 

The business owners argue that the provision to have counties license the sale of tobacco and nicotine products will amount to double taxation, increase the cost of doing business, whilst opening up avenues for unscrupulous county officials to harass traders by demanding bribes. 

The Bill provides that “a person intending to manufacture, distribute, store, sell or in any other way deal in tobacco products shall obtain a licence from the respective county executive committee member,” however, the Kisumu business owners argue that the proposal goes against the single-business permit spirit, which will lead to increased cost of doing business. 

“The Bill proposes to give counties powers to require specific and separate licenses for sale of tobacco products. In our consideration, this is out of line as it goes against the spirit of single business permits and will lead to closure of a lot of small and medium businesses due to harassment and high cost of operation. 

“We firmly believe that giving counties such powers will only lead to them being abused, and we will end up being the culprits of harassment by county governments. The instances of county officials asking for bribes – so as to be allowed to continue operating – are likely to significantly increase if this law is passed in its present form,” they said. 

“By introducing this new provision, we submit to the Senate that what it will effectively be doing is allowing double taxation and subsequently increasing the cost of doing business. This is because not only will the stakeholders have to pay for the single business permit, but they will now also have to pay for the proposed new licensing under this Bill,” they added. 

The business owners are now calling on the Senate to reconsider the Bill’s provisions and engage in meaningful dialogue with stakeholders to ensure that public health goals are met without compromising business sustainability.

“We urge lawmakers to remove the additional licensing requirements from the Bill to protect small businesses from financial strain and ensure fair, transparent regulation,” they said.