KBL paid over P760m in alcohol levy

Staff Writer | Friday March 18, 2016 15:49

In response to the Gaborone Central legislator, Phenyo Butale’s question on how much the brewer has had to part with since the introduction of the levy, Madigele said that the amount was not from KBL but rather from the taxation of the company products.

“Mr Speaker, the balance on the alcohol levy account in my ministry as at June 2015 is P14,228,584.66. The Ministry of Health only receives 5 percent of the alcohol levy funds. The current Alcohol Levy Funds distribution ratio is 85 percent to Government Consolidated Funds, 10 percent to Gender Affairs Department and 5 percent to the Alcohol Campaign in my Ministry, which in this case is the Ministry of Health,” Madigele said at the time.  He also stated that the alcohol levy funds in his ministry were accounted for just like all government funds.

“Alcohol levy funds are channelled through the treasury: they are collected by Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS); they are then routed through the Accountant General, who then disburses the funds to respected beneficiaries in the proportions stated above.”

He said, then, that his ministry was not aware of the impending retrenchment exercise at KBL or the number of jobs that are on the line. However, he said the alcohol industry had raised concerns that major immediate increases in the alcohol levy hurt the operations of beverage manufacturers like KBL. To that end, the ministries of Trade and Industry and Health had met and discussed these concerns, and continued to dialogue on the issue for best possible solutions.

“It is however important not to lose sight of the broader purpose for which levy on Alcohol Beverages Fund Order was established: to promote projects and activities designed to combat alcohol abuse and minimise the effects of alcohol abuse in our society.”