Nairobi traders shut shops in protest as KRA import benchmark hike sparks tear-gas clashes

Traders take to the streets in Nairobi

Police used tear gas to disperse traders protesting in central Nairobi on Friday, after the dispute over a higher customs benchmark for consolidated import containers escalated into street demonstrations and widespread shop closures. Reuters reported from the scene that hundreds of businesses in the capital’s core trading district shut their doors, while a Reuters witness saw officers fire tear gas to clear the crowds. Independent Kenyan coverage also described traders disrupting business activity in the central business district as the protest spread across the commercial area. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

The immediate trigger was a change in how the Kenya Revenue Authority values general containerised consolidation cargo. Traders say the revised benchmark raises the amount they must account for when clearing goods and threatens the small margins on which many informal and semi-formal businesses operate. The Reuters account said the protesters were specifically objecting to an import duty hike, while Kenyan outlets framed the issue as a customs valuation dispute that could make imports more expensive for small traders. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

What changed in the customs benchmark

The Kenya Revenue Authority has raised the minimum customs benchmark for a consolidated 40-foot container from 2.5 million Kenyan shillings to 3.2 million shillings, with the change taking effect on August 20, 2026, according to KRA statements reported by multiple Kenyan media outlets and a state-backed news report. The authority says the figure is a minimum reference point for valuation rather than a flat tax bill on every container. If the value of goods in a shipment exceeds the benchmark, importers are expected to declare the actual value and pay duties accordingly. ([kenyanews.go.ke](https://www.kenyanews.go.ke/kra-tightens-customs-valuation-raises-benchmark-to-sh3-2m/?utm_source=openai))

KRA says the measure is intended to curb under-declaration and undervaluation, which it argues can disadvantage compliant importers and local manufacturers. That explanation was repeated in Reuters’ report and in Kenyan coverage carried after the agency issued clarifications about the benchmark. The authority’s public position is therefore not that it has created a new tax category, but that it has tightened valuation rules to better reflect the worth of cargo entering the country. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

Why traders are angry

Trader groups and small business owners say the new benchmark could raise clearing costs at a time when retail margins are already thin. Their concern is that importers who rely on consolidated shipments to lower freight and clearance expenses will now face a higher baseline for customs valuation, making it harder to keep prices stable. Reuters quoted one demonstrator, Muturi Kariuki, as saying the traders were defending their citizenship and right to do business. That sentiment was echoed in local reports describing the protest as an effort to protect small enterprises from being squeezed out by higher import costs. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

For many small traders in Nairobi, especially those operating in densely packed wholesale and retail markets, the benchmark change touches the basic economics of importing stock. Consolidated containers are commonly used when individual businesses cannot fill a full shipping container on their own, so any change in valuation rules can have an outsized effect on smaller operators. Reuters said some traders closed their businesses to join the demonstrations, while others shut early for safety reasons as police intervened. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

A familiar flashpoint in Kenya

The confrontation fits into a broader Kenyan pattern in which tax and cost-of-living disputes have repeatedly pushed people into the streets. Over the past two years, protests over taxes and state levies have repeatedly led to clashes with police, tear-gas deployments and shop closures in Nairobi. Al Jazeera’s recent coverage of Kenya’s protest waves shows that demonstrations over fiscal measures have become a recurring political and economic pressure point, especially when people believe taxation is rising faster than incomes or business turnover. ([aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/18/kenya-scraps-some-tax-hike-proposals-as-protesters-rally-in-nairobi?utm_source=openai))

This latest dispute is narrower than the mass anti-tax mobilisations of 2024, but it reflects a similar tension: the government argues that compliance and revenue collection must be strengthened, while traders say new rules often land hardest on low-capital businesses. The difference this time is that the protest is centered on customs valuation and import administration rather than a broad finance bill. Even so, the use of tear gas in downtown Nairobi underscores how quickly technical tax changes can become public-order issues when traders feel they are being asked to absorb the cost. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

There is also an economic policy trade-off at the heart of the dispute. KRA says tighter valuation can reduce abuse and protect fair competition; traders argue that, in practice, a higher benchmark may push up consumer prices, reduce stock turnover and weaken already fragile small businesses. Both claims can be true in different parts of the market. The policy may improve compliance overall while still producing acute pain for smaller importers who depend on low-cost consolidation. What is clear from Friday’s events is that the debate has moved from customs paperwork into the streets of the capital. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

What happens next

The immediate question is whether KRA and trader representatives will open negotiations or whether the dispute will harden into more street protests and prolonged business disruption. Local reporting on Friday suggested that business leaders and trade associations were already calling for dialogue, while the Reuters account showed that the disruption was large enough to shut a sizeable share of shops in the city centre. If the agency keeps the benchmark unchanged, traders may continue to argue that the system is too burdensome; if the rule is revised or clarified further, that could ease tensions but may also invite scrutiny over enforcement consistency. ([test.citizen.digital](https://test.citizen.digital/article/traders-paralyse-business-in-nairobi-cbd-in-protest-over-higher-kra-import-duty-n389153?utm_source=openai))

For now, the dispute remains a test of how Kenya balances revenue collection, customs enforcement and the interests of small traders who depend on imported goods to survive. Friday’s tear gas may disperse the crowds, but the underlying issue of import costs is likely to remain on the national agenda as long as traders believe the new benchmark changes the economics of doing business. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

Note on verification

This article is based on Reuters reporting carried by AOL and corroborated with independent coverage from Kenyan News Agency, People Daily, Citizen Digital, Pulse Kenya and The Standard. Where outlets differed in wording, the core verified facts were kept narrow: the benchmark increase, the start date, the protest in Nairobi, and the use of tear gas to disperse demonstrators. ([internazionale.it](https://www.internazionale.it/ultime-notizie-reuters/2026/08/28/kenya-police-fire-tear-gas-to-disperse-traders-protesting-import-duty-hike?utm_source=openai))

Sources:

• Reuters via AOL
• Kenya News Agency
• People Daily
• Citizen Digital
• Pulse Kenya
• The Standard