The price of table salt is set to increase after the High Court slapped a major manufacturer with a Sh2 billion bill.
Water Management Resources Authority (Warma) won a case against Krystalline Salt Ltd, which was ordered to pay the amount as costs for the use of sea water in production.
Additionally, Warma wants the company charged interest of Sh185,000 each year for the 10 years - 2007 to 2017 - it has used the sea water.
This was the second award against a manufacturer, as Kensalt had earlier been ordered to pay Sh270 million for using sea water over six years.
The High Court dismissed the arguments by the salt firms that water was a natural resource that they ought not to be charged for.
The decision by Justice Kossy Bor that firms should pay for sea water means that the cost of salt could rise as the companies are expected to pay taxes to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
On average, the cost of a kilo of salt is Sh25 and the smallest packet, 250g, costs Sh5. It is the only household commodity that has experienced a zero per cent cost rise over the years, but manufacturers will now pass the charges to consumers.
Krystalline Salt Ltd put up a spirited fight, just like Kensalt, arguing that water was God-given hence Warma had no authority to claim any money.
Ms Bor dismissed Krystalline’s argument and said the Constitution placed the management of all natural resources in the hands of the Government.
“The Constitution enjoins the State to utilise the environment and natural resources for the benefit of the people of Kenya. This is the basis of charges imposed by the State on water use and other resources,” Bor said.
Kensalt was the first to ask High Court judge Oscar Angote to dismiss Warma's demand for Sh270 million.
The judge struck the case out before it went to trial. Aggrieved, the firm moved to the Court of Appeal.
