Kenyans should expect lower sugar prices within the next two weeks.
This is according to President William Ruto who said on Wednesday 2nd August 2023, at State House, that the country was looking at getting the commodity outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which is currently facing an acute shortage of the same.
”We started with COMESA sugar which is not sufficient. In the next one or two weeks, we will see different situations pertaining to sugar prices because that is when the sugar will be imported,” the Head of State said, at the house on the hill during a press briefing reacting to the increase in sugar prices in recent months.
Lack of mature sugarcane from Kenyan farmers to millers for crushing has triggered a country-wide shortage of the commodity, leading to the prices skyrocketing.
President Ruto also disclosed his administration deliberately avoided importing the commodity, noting that importation has previously been used to try and kill the sugar industry in Kenya.
“It is true prices have gone up. We have been reluctant to work against farmers by opening importation. It has always been a problem in Kenya. Sometimes it has been used to destroy the sugar industry,” he added.
The government, President Ruto noted, has already awarded licenses to Kenyan traders for the importation of sugar and prices should be going down in the next one or two weeks.
Across supermarkets in Nairobi, a two-kilogram packet of Ndhiwa and Mumias sugar brands is retailing at Sh350 while Mara Sugar on the other hand is retailing at Sh360.
