The Kenya Motorists Association (KMA) has faulted the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum for lowering fuel prices marginally despite an initial promise by President William Ruto's administration to reduce the pump prices significantly.
In a brief statement through its social media accounts, the motorists' umbrella body on Monday, October 14, called on the government to consider lowering the prices substantially to fit the demand of most motorists in the country.
According to the Association, there was still an overcharge of Ksh40 in the new prices of fuel announced on Monday evening by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA). The overcharge, according to the group, was notably on the super petrol and diesel prices.
“Fuel prices should be retailing at Ksh140 per super petrol and Ksh132 for diesel. We still have an overcharge of Ksh40,” commented the Motorists Association.
The complaint comes barely hours after EPRA announced the new fuel prices for the next one month. In its announcement, the regulator reduced the price of super petrol by Ksh8 to retail at Ksh180.06 while diesel was reduced by Ksh3.54, going from Ksh171.6 to Ksh168.06.
Similarly, EPRA reduced the price of kerosene from Ksh158.32 to Ksh151.39. "Per Section 101(y) of the Petroleum Act 2019 and Legal Notice No.192 of 2022, we have calculated the maximum retail prices of petroleum products, which will be in force from 15th October 2024 to 14th November 2024," read part of a statement by EPRA.
Further, the regulatory body also announced a drop in the landing cost of the three petroleum products. The latest announcement came as a surprise for most Kenyans who expected fuel prices to rise substantially following the ongoing Middle-East conflict.
However, the decision to lower the fuel prices was mainly pegged on the recent stability of the Kenyan shilling which has retained its incredible streak against major global currencies including the United States dollar, currently trading at Ksh128.50 against the greenbuck.
While yesterday's announcement by EPRA came as a reprieve for most motorists, the operators now demand the government cut the pump prices further in the coming month to reflect the promise it issued to them mid-this year.
In August this year, motorists threatened to stage demonstrations over what they termed as the government's plan to hike fuel prices by introducing more levies on the essential commodity. The operators claimed they were at a crossroads on whether to hike fare prices in the country or operate at a loss.
The operators also threatened to protest over alleged exploitation by insurance companies and auctioneers claiming that their costs of operations had gone up resulting in banks auctioning their vehicles due to defaults.
“The new Minister of Transport should this issue seriously and resolve this matter. If the government does not hear our grievances, we have united all over the country to desist from engaging in transport activities. We want a framework that will see the creation of insurance policies that will safeguard policyholders in the event the insurance company closes or goes bankrupt,' the motorists stated.
