Reported by
Faridah N Kulumba
The Kenya parliament ratified the Kenya-British trade deal in a surprise way on Tuesday night despite ongoing legal challenges. The secret vote paved the way for a duty-free trade economic framework between East African countries and United Kingdom.
The deal was opposed by several influential legislators in the past weeks, but the chairman of the Kenya Parliamentary Trade Commission Adan Haji in a twist managed to persuade the majority of Kenyan legislators not to block the agreement.
A press officer at the UK Department for International Trade confirmed to City A.M that the trade agreement had been ratified and the UK High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott said she was happy about it.
At the beginning of this month, The House of Lords-Britain’s upper house, also endorsed this trade bill with Kenya after completing scrutiny of the document paving the way for its enforcement once Kenyan counterparts approve it.
British International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena while speaking to City A.M said that it was good news that the Kenyan Parliament has agreed to sign the agreement which is worth 1.4 billion a year.
“It is good news that the Kenyan Parliament has agreed to our trade agreement. This will benefit UK shoppers and Kenyan exporters and will boost business on both sides,” said Jawardena.
Benefits of the trade deal to Kenya
The UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement was signed on 8th December 2020 by International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Trade Minister Betty Maina in London, providing Kenyan duty-free access to the UK market, while Kenya will start phasing out duty and quota barriers on a set number of UK products 12 years after the EPA has come into force.
Kenya will start phasing down the duty on finished products currently billed from 25 percent after 12 years, leading to its elimination 13 years later. This trade agreement is to ensure that all companies operating in Kenya, including British businesses, can continue to benefit from duty-free access to the UK market.
It will support jobs and economic development in Kenya, as well as avoid possible disruption to UK businesses such as florists who will be able to maintain tariff-free supply routes for Kenya’s high quality flowers.
The UK market accounts for 43% of total exports of vegetables from Kenya as well as at least 9% of cut flowers, and this agreement will support Kenyans working in these sectors by maintaining tariff-free market access to the UK.
It will also benefit many of the approximately 2,500 UK businesses exporting goods to Kenya each year, including many UK suppliers of machinery, electronics and technical equipment, where continued tariff-free access will be guaranteed. Both countries will eventually see duty-free on 82.6 percent of products originating from the UK abolished after 25 years.
Why Kenyan legislators challenged the deal?
Kenyan Members of parliament claimed that the clause in the Economic Partnership Agreement bars Parliament from amending or expressing reservations on the pact.
They said that it erodes the country’s sovereignty and demanded that the Parliament be allowed to either amend or express reservations on the trade deal.
They also urged that the clause violates the provisions of the Treaty Making and Ratification Act 2012 which gives the National Assembly powers to either approve or reject a treaty with reservations.
Other challenge
Even though the UK-Kenya trade agreement ratification process was completed by both countries, the agreement still faces the challenge of a petition at Nairobi High Court, which was filled by a group of famers and lobby group Econews.
Through their lawyer Hanningtone Amol In they stated in the petition that Kenya did not follow the country’s constitution. The farmer’s right to access information was not granted as they do not have the luxury of English knowledge and do not have access to the internet.
They ought to have been availed simple versions of the document in local languages and guided on what it means. Peasant groups are also still opposing the agreement saying that UK exporters entering Kenya do not get their quotas and tariffs lifted as it can lead to unfair competition and market turmoil.
