Kenya Blocks Another Ugandan Company from Exporting Milk

Uganda Revenue Authority has said another milk producer has been stopped from exporting milk to Kenya.

According to Mr Ian Rumanyika, the URA manager corporate affairs, Lakeside Dairies had written to them requesting that it is allowed to return milk it had exported to Kenya after a series of hostilities by Kenyan security and government agencies.

“We received a letter from Lakeside Dairies asking us [URA] to allow them to return their [milk] products because they were being seized by Kenyan authorities. They asked us to allow them to return their products. We compiled,” he said.

The milk produced by Lakeside Dairies, the second to suffer the wrath of the trade war, is estimated to be worth $160,000 (Shs592m).

Reports indicate that the company had been exporting 80,000 litres of milk every day to Kenya for the last four years.

According to information on the company’s website, Lakeside Dairy was incorporated on July 15, 2014 after acquiring the business of Hillside Dairy and Agriculture Limited.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dodla Holdings, Singapore with a commendable presence in western and central Uganda.

The company specialises in the production and exportation of UHT and produces yoghurt for the local market.

About a month ago, Pearl Dairies, which produces Lato Milk, suffered the same fate as its milk exports were seized and later returned to Uganda.

At least 19 trucks carrying powered and UHT milk were returned. The milk truck loads worth more than Shs1.1b, according to URA details, were seized and forced to return to Uganda on varying dates.

Others were diverted with their goods and have remained seized to date.
Earlier, Kenya had announced that it was working on a 16 per cent levy that would be charged on Uganda’s milk.

However, President Uhuru Kenyatta recently quashed the levy, saying it should only apply on milk coming from outside the East Africa Community.

Mr Steven Aikiriza, a dairy expert working with SNV in western Uganda, told Daily Monitor that he had been told of Lakeside Dairies’ fate, noting that diversion of the company’s milk exports had been returned silently.