Taita Taveta iron ore cess dispute ends up in court

A dispute over payment of cess between an iron ore miner and Taita Taveta County government has spilled to the courts.

Samruddha Resources (Kenya) Ltd has filed a petition seeking to restrain Taita Taveta from enforcing cess for iron ore.

The company is also seeking a declaration that the collection of cess by the county government is unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.

Through lawyer Sanjeev Khagram, SRKL which mines the minerals in Kishushe, claims the county government has purported to increase the cess on iron ore from Sh150 per tonne to Sh1,000.

“The respondent has now raised the cess by 850 percent cent per tonne without any stakeholder participation, input from the petitioner or the national government,” part of the petition states.

According to SRKL, the Mining Act says every mineral in its natural state in the country is the property of the national government.

SKRL argues that holders of mineral rights are obliged to pay royalty to the national government.

The company says that royalty is distributed at 70 percent to the national government, 20 percent to county government and 10 percent to the community. “Given the entitlement of the county government, any further levy of monies in the form of taxation is tantamount to double taxation and goes against the national values,” the petition further states.