It is pain for millions of Kenyans who rely on LPG cooking gas. This is as the prices of this cooking gas continue to rise untamed. Currently, the prices have hit an eight year high of nearly Sh. 3,000 with multiple sellers pricing the 13-kg cylinder at Sh. 2,978.
The prices began to rise last year when the National Treasury reintroduced a 16 percent value added tax (VAT) on the LPG. When the tax was introduced, Martin Chomba, the chair of Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya, said that LPG sellers would immediately start pushing the extra cost to consumers in order for them to comply with the new tax regulation. “We must remit a 16 percent VAT for every cylinder sold or refilled. It is natural that we will pass the added cost to consumers,” he said .
The 13-kg cylinder of gas from Total is now selling at Sh. 2,995. The one from Rubis K-gas is selling at Sh. 2,950 while the one from Shell/Vivo’s Afrigas is selling at Sh. 2,990.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Wednesday, big players in the market have taken advantage of the tax increase by the government to more than triple the prices. “Kenya’s LPG business is mainly controlled by big players, including Total, Vivo, Rubis, Oil Libya and Africa Gas and Oil (AGOL), which owns Proto gas. The bulk of the cooking gas used in Kenya comes in through the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa but supply and distribution are concentrated among a few players,” the report said.
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The sharp rise in the cost of cooking gas will come at a time when Kenyans are already reeling from the pain of high fuel prices. For example, the cost of petrol is currently Sh. 129.72 per litre while diesel is selling at Sh. 110.60 per litre. Kerosene is selling at Sh. 103.54 per litre.
