Kilifi Loses Salt Levy Fight: High Court Rules KSh 200 Per Tonne Charge UnconstitutionalKilifi Loses Salt Levy Fight: High Court Rules KSh 200 Per Tonne Charge Unconstitutional
Key Highlights
- The High Court has declared Kilifi County's charge of KSh 200 per tonne on salt unconstitutional and ordered the county to stop collecting it.
- The court found the levy lacked meaningful public participation, had no basis in national legislation and was not tied to any service the county provides.
- Four coastal salt producers brought the petition, and whether the county will appeal has not been reported.
Kilifi County can no longer charge salt producers KSh 200 ($1.54) on every tonne of salt, after the High Court ruled the levy unconstitutional.
The court declared the charge unlawful and ordered the county to stop collecting it, Business Daily reported on 13 October. Four coastal salt producers brought the petition. The charge was imposed under the Kilifi County Finance Act, 2018.
Three reasons the court gave
The report says the court found that the levy lacked meaningful public participation, was not authorised by national legislation and was not linked to any service provided by the county. The report does not name the judge, the producers or the date of the ruling, and it carries no response from the county government. Court decisions are published by the National Council for Law Reporting on Kenya Law.
For producers, a per-tonne charge is a direct cost that rises with every tonne sold. The fact that four of them went to court suggests they saw it as a burden worth fighting.
What it means for other county charges
The ruling concerns one county's law. Whether other county charges on produce, minerals or goods can be challenged on the same grounds depends on how each was made and what it pays for, so this is a signal rather than a blanket verdict. That is Mwenendo's reading, not a finding of the court.
Counties rely on local charges to fund services, so losing one matters for their budgets. Mwenendo earlier reported on how counties left KSh 100.2 billion unspent in the year to June 2026, which shows that raising money and spending it well are separate problems.
As Mwenendo earlier reported, Kirinyaga's help for rice farmers shows how counties can cut farm costs directly, the opposite of adding a charge. In an earlier report by Mwenendo, the county expected the cost of moving a sack of rice to fall from KSh 300 ($2.31) to KSh 100 ($0.77).
The revenue Kilifi collected from the salt charge was not stated, and the county has not been quoted, so whether it will appeal is not known.
In Summary
- Who brought the case?
- Four coastal salt producers, who are not named in the report.
- What did the court decide?
- It declared Kilifi County's KSh 200 per tonne charge on salt unconstitutional and ordered collection to stop.
- When was it reported?
- 13 October 2026; the date of the ruling was not stated.
- Where does the levy apply?
- Kilifi County on the Kenyan coast, under the Kilifi County Finance Act, 2018.
- Why was it struck down?
- It lacked meaningful public participation, was not authorised by national law and was not linked to a service.
- How might it affect other counties?
- Each county charge depends on its own law and process, so the ruling is a signal, not a blanket verdict.