The cost of living in Kenya is about to hit the rooftop as the governmemnt has introduced an import duty on liquid petroleum gas cylinders which could push the already high cost of cooking gas higher. Millions of Kenyans had traded off kerosene, paraffin and wood for cooking gas because it is clean, renewable and safe, but with the new tax, many will crawl back to where they started, to cut on the overburdening cost of living.
East African Community (EAC) issued a gazette notice on June this year, scapping off the duty-free importation of Liquid petroleum gas cylinders for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. East African countries are now expected to pay 25% duty for the importation of the cylinders as required by the new trade policy.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that in July 2018 the price of refiling a 13 kg liquid petroleum gas cylinder had shot up to over KSh 2,176 from KSh 2,073 in 2017 which equates to a 4.95 per cent increase. In less than two months, the prices of electricity, kerosene and petrol have skyrocketed sequentially meaning that Kenyans will have to work harder and save more to be able to afford cooking gas.
A while back the government’s decision to increase excise taxes on kerosene was aimed at encouraging more Kenyans to use cleaner energy sources such as liquid petroleum gas, fight back adulteration of the fuel, and move low-income households, especially those in rural areas, away from the use of wood and kerosene. But with this new tax imposition, low-income Kenyans will have to survive on wood fuel and charcoal.
Clearly the exchequer is under pressure and the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) Henry Rotich, finds himself in a rock and a hard place. Introducing taxes on essential sources of energy is what many would interpret as a desperate attempt to raise funds for development projects at the expense of mwananchi.