Kenyan car buyers hit by 35pc import duty in EAC deal

Kenyan car buyers have been hit by a 35 percent import duty after the East African Community (EAC) approved an application by Kenya to raise duty on motor vehicles under the common external tariff, piling pressure on a sector being pounded by a depreciating currency.

The review of the import duty from the current 25 percent, which has been since approved by the EAC Council of Ministers, will result in double-digit increases in prices of imported cars including those carrying 10 or more passengers, station wagons, racing cars and those involved in the transportation of goods among others.

Effectively, this means that vehicles imported into the country will now fetch a higher price locally than they will in regional peers such as Uganda and Rwanda.