A hunter, not very bold, was searching for the tracks of a lion. He asked a man felling oaks in the forest if he had seen any marks of his footsteps or knew where his lair was.
“I will,” said the man, “at once show you the lion himself.”
The hunter, turning very pale and chattering with his teeth from fear, replied, “No, thank you. I did not ask that; it is his track only I am in search of, not the lion himself.”
It is said that the hero is brave in deeds as well as words. When President William Ruto took office, he committed to ensuring that Kenya gets Foreign Direct Investments to create jobs and also lower the cost of living by making consumer products affordable.
Last week, Ruto announced that the government will reduce the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by offering incentives to investors. Ruto said this was in line with the government’s plan to ensure every household uses LPG cooking gas.
The move to have the government implement an Open Tender System in the importation of LPG will encourage competitive and efficient pricing of cooking gas. This will be coupled with the development of a common user terminal for LPG at the Port of Mombasa to reduce the cost of production.
This plan is key to ensuring that the government achieves its plan to have every household in the country own a gas cylinder and access the product at an affordable price in the next three years.
Kenya imported 240,000 tonnes of LPG in 2022, up from 180,000 tonnes in 2021, according to Energy Regulatory Commission data. LPG demand has been steadily increasing as more households switch from charcoal and kerosene to gas.
However, many consumers have been put off by the high cost of LPG. It is therefore prudent that the government works hard to ensure that the cost comes down and more Kenyans move to using gas as the key cooking fuel.
Making LPG affordable is critical for the country as it will help move more Kenyans away from using firewood and charcoal. This helps in keeping Kenyans healthy as well as saving the environment as it stops the cutting down of trees.
At a time when climate change is a real concern, saving every tree is necessary and so having more people use affordable gas is critical for Kenya. The Kenya Kwanza government is committed to ensuring Kenyans use clean, green energy in line with the country's climate change mitigation plan.
The move to establish the LPG site in Mombasa will also help the government eliminate illegal gas-filling stations that have put the lives of Kenyans at risk. Other than ensuring that people get affordable gas, it is important also to strive to keep Kenyans safe from unscrupulous business people.
The plan to have all public institutions using biomass as their cooking fuel transition to LPG by 2025 is also a welcome move. Embracing environment-friendly alternatives is a very good move for Kenya to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the Taifa Gas at Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone in Mombasa that happened last Friday is an important step in the right direction as it also helps build the confidence of foreign investors.
Some 22 other investors have shown interest in the 3,000-acre parcel of land in Dongo Kundu SEZ, which faces the Port of Mombasa from the Likoni side.
Ruto's administration has given Tanzanian businessman Rostam Aziz, the chairperson of Taifa Gas Investment SEZ Limited, 30 acres at Dongo Kundu to set up a 30,000 metric tonnes gas handling facility.
Taifa Gas is Tanzania’s largest LPG supply company and has been feeding the Kenyan retail market via road. The company is investing $130 million (Sh16 billion) in an LPG import, storage and distribution plant.
When fully operation in the next 12 months, the plant is expected to create 90,000 direct and indirect jobs. This will be a huge boost for Kenya’s plan to deal with unemployment.
