NAIROBI (CU)_Since June 2014, Base Titanium, the Kenyan subsidiary of the Base Resources Group, had been forced to pay a levy totalling Ksh1,542,000 ($14,411.21) to the County of Mombasa on its Titanium trucks operating within the jurisdiction. Therefore, in 2015, the mineral sands operator filed a petition seeking orders that the charges were unconstitutional as the Constitution does not authorise the imposition of tax on the transportation of Titanium across the County’s boundaries. Now, after a prolonged legal battle, the highest judicial court in Kenya has ruled in favour of Base Titanium.
“…a declaration is hereby issued declaring that the actions of the First Respondent (Mombasa County) to charge the Appellant (Base Titanium) a cess in the sum of Ksh3, 000 ($28.03) per truck, or any sum at all, a condition for the Appellant (Titanium) to move its goods across the boundaries of the 1st Respondent’s County is unconstitutional, null and void,” the Supreme Court’s ruling read.
According to the judgement, which overturned the rulings of the High Court and the Court of Appeal…
