Cigarette manufacturer Mastermind Tobacco has raised an alarm on the influx of counterfeit cigarettes in
The company has said that a staggering 80 percent of products carrying its flagship brand, Supermatch, are being smuggled into Kenya from neighboring Uganda, flooding the market with illegal goods.
As a result, the company is urging the government to implement robust border control measures to prevent the entry of illicit products into the country.
“We are also asking the government to crack down on traders and dealers engaged in the import of illicit cigarettes into the country and take legal action on them,” said Audrey Murungi, executive director of Mastermind.
Ms Murungi said if not curtailed, the Tobacco industry here will be forced to shut down leading to a massive loss of jobs.
British American Tobacco (BAT), listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), recently conducted an annual survey revealing that the illicit sale of cigarettes accounted for approximately 25.5 percent of the market last year, a significant increase from the previous figure of 11.3 percent.
This surge in illegal sales led to a substantial loss of revenue amounting to billions of shillings. According to BAT’s estimates, the illicit market caused the Kenya Revenue Authority to miss out on Sh6.5 billion in revenue in the year 2022.
