Kindiki: Blaming government for fuel hike is incitement

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki during a consultative forum with Tharaka Constituency grassroots leaders/SCREENGRAB

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has defended the government against criticism over soaring fuel prices.

Kindiki said it is misleading and inflammatory for anyone to blame the Kenya Kwanza administration for a crisis driven by global factors.

Speaking during a consultative forum with Tharaka Constituency grassroots leaders on Monday, Kindiki said the sharp increase in fuel prices was being experienced across the world, including in major oil-producing nations.

“I want to challenge the people who are saying the government is responsible for the hike in fuel prices to look at Kenyans in the eyes and tell them which countries in the world today have not recorded an increase,” Kindiki said.

“There is no single nation on earth, including oil-producing countries like the United States, that has not been affected.”

The Deputy President maintained that the government had not abandoned Kenyans despite the economic pressure caused by rising fuel costs and inflation.

“This problem, even though global, we have not just sat down to watch Kenyans suffer,” he said.

“We must tell Kenyans the truth; there are some measures the government has taken to contain the spike. The price would have gone up to Sh300 or Sh400 per litre.”

Kindiki revealed that the government had introduced several interventions aimed at cushioning consumers from the full impact of the global fuel crisis, including reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel from 16 per cent to eight per cent.

“We have reduced the VAT from 16 per cent to eight per cent as the first measure,” he said.

At the same time, the Deputy President defended taxes imposed on fuel products, arguing that taxes are necessary to fund critical public services and development programmes.

“We need tax. People cannot say we remove all the taxes and then tomorrow demand roads, water and health services,” Kindiki stated.

“All governments in the world are run by taxes collected.”

He further disclosed that the government had injected Sh12 billion into the fuel stabilisation programme in an effort to slow down the rise in prices, although global market pressures continued to push costs higher.

“We have also injected Sh12 billion as stabilisation fund to contain the prices but the prices still soar,” he said.

“We will take more measures so that the prices do not continue rising.”

Kindiki also recalled efforts by the Kenya Kwanza administration to gradually reduce fuel prices after taking office in 2022.

“We had tried to reduce fuel prices since 2022,” he said.

“Every month we used to reduce slowly from Sh218 per litre when we took office to Sh170 per litre. It was a drastic reduction of over Sh40.”

However, he said progress was disrupted by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States in the Middle East, which has destabilised global oil supply chains.

“But when we were progressing, war started in Iran, and we all know about it,” Kindiki said.

“That war pitting the US and Israel versus Iran — where the war is, is where we get our fuel.”

He explained that the closure and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, had significantly increased transport and insurance costs for fuel shipments.