Munya wants Kenya, Somaliland agreement over miraa sale

Meru County Governor Peter Munya has urged the government to promote the Miraa market in Somaliland that buys most of its Miraa plant from Ethiopia.

Munya who was speaking at Kabachi in Igembe North Sub County during the burial of the late Mzee Peter Njilu Mbutura said that his main objective visit to Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, was to persuade the government to remove the obstacles that have hindered the export of Miraa to the country.

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He oted that the Miraa market in Somaliland is worth USD400 million, with 99 percent of the supplies coming from Ethiopia because Miraa from Kenya, which is highly preferred there, is charged 300 percent while the one from Ethiopia is charged only 100 percent duty making it impossible for the Kenyan market to compete.

According to the governor, he has convinced the national government to appoint a technical committee to review the duty in exchange to some form of recognition of the Republic of Somaliland by the Kenyan Government.

He added that he will be presenting a report and a brief to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the new development and visit to Somaliland in due course.

“I will be presenting a report and a brief to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the new development and visit to Somaliland in due course so that we can explore the possibility of doing miraa business there,” said Munya.

Miraa farmers in Kenya are already suffering following a ban on miraa in the United Kingdom in 2014 and the reduction of its trade in Somalia, which was the biggest market for the trade.

This comes at a time when Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud wants a total ban of miraa in his country citing devastating impacts of miraa consumption in his nation.

Written by Paul Barasa

Source:Citizen