Deputy President William Ruto on Monday, October 11, alleged that cartels at the Ministry of Petroleum orchestrated the recent hike in fuel prices with the aim of making financial gains.
While addressing grassroots leaders from Murang'a County at his Karen residence, Ruto claimed that petroleum dealers at the Ministry made super-profits after the government reviewed the prices of fuel.
He went further to state that the government was aiding the cartels in protecting the well-organized scheme.
"It is not about the taxes. It is about the graft in the Ministry of Petroleum that is aiding a few companies to make super-profits while the ordinary citizen is suffering from high prices.
"The cartels at the Ministry of Petroleum should explain to Kenyans why dealers have increased their profit from Ksh9 to Ksh12, and why the Ministry is protecting the market and operates like a cartel that is hurting the ordinary people of Kenya," stated the DP.
The DP argued that the prices in Kenya were higher than those of its neighboring countries, despite its strategic position in the region.
"How can you explain why the price of fuel in Kenya, a country close to the petrol source, is higher than that of Uganda yet they take petrol from us?" queried the DP.
"That cartel that is in that Ministry is what is causing the rising prices of fuel in Kenya to be higher than that of Uganda," he claimed
At the same event, allies of the DP, led by Kikuyu Legislator, Kimani Ichungwa, rubbished the government’s efforts to reform the energy sector stating that the move was ill-intended.
"How does a listed public company become a state project? If you want a definition of state capture, that is the first definition. You are forming committees and task forces to deal with independent power producers. Tell us the owners of all those independent power producers," Ichungwa stated.
On Sunday, October 3, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i announced that the government would overhaul the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) with the aim of reducing the cost of electricity.
This directive came after Kenyans lamented over the increase in the cost of fuel, with various committees in parliament summoning officials from the Petroleum and Energy ministries to explain the increase in fuel prices.
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