Kenya’s Finance Act 2026 has dramatically increased excise duty on imported finished table sugar from Sh7.50 to Sh40 per kilogramme, ostensibly to protect local millers and farmers. Meanwhile, raw sugar imported as an “industrial raw material for refining” remains lightly taxed, with an East African Community duty remission further reducing its tariff to just 10 percent for 12 months. However, a National Assembly committee investigation revealed that Kenya’s only designated refinery is mechanically non-operational, incapable of processing raw sugar at scale. Consequently, thousands of tonnes of raw sugar, lacking manufacturing or expiry dates, have been cleared through customs and routed to bonded warehouses, poised to enter the retail market illegally.