- A legal challenge has put a new charge on tea exports under temporary suspension.
- The dispute centres on concerns over how the levy could affect farmers and other industry players.
- The court is set to issue further directions as the petition moves to the next stage.
A 0.8 per cent levy on tea exports has been put on hold by the High Court in Machakos, which has halted the Tea (Levy) Regulations, 2026 until a petition challenging them is heard by both sides.
Justice Josephine Mongare certified the petition as urgent and set November 19, 2026 for a mention, when she will give directions on how the case proceeds.
The petition was filed by the Mazingira Greens Party of Kenya. It names the Tea Board of Kenya (TBK), the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General as respondents, with the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) joined as an interested party.
At the centre of the dispute is Regulation 4, which charges the levy on the auction value of every consignment of made tea sent abroad. The party’s chairman, John Bunei, argues that although exporters are the ones billed, small-scale farmers end up paying, since the charge cuts the proceeds that reach them.
Bunei also objects to how the money would be used. The regulations direct levy funds to road projects, yet he says nothing guarantees that the cost will be shared fairly among players in the industry, multinational tea companies included.
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The petitioners add that growers were never given a real chance to take part in shaping the levy or the changes to the Tea Act that enabled it. They say the charge treats industry participants unequally and may hit some harder than others.
In the court papers, the party describes the regulations as raising weighty constitutional questions. These cover equality, protection of property, economic and social rights, public finance and the power to impose taxes and levies.
It wants the court to bar the respondents from refusing tea export and import permits to anyone who has not paid the levy. It is also asking that the regulations be suspended in full until the case is decided.
The party says Regulation 4 and section 53 of the Tea Act breach Article 27 on equality and freedom from discrimination and Article 201 on principles of public finance. It also cites Articles 94, 209 and 210 on the imposition of taxes, Article 40 on the right to property and Article 43 on economic and social rights, and says the measures offend the principles of devolution and revenue sharing.
By Aoya Benedict
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