Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap/FILE
THE cost of fuel in this country is largely an international phenomenon, the consequences of the closure of the Street of Hormuz and the war between Israel, Iran and the US.
This country is not yet an oil producer. We depend on fuel from the Middle East, and as such, everywhere in the world that depends on fuel from the Middle East is greatly affected.
I was in the US, and fuel prices have skyrocketed; so these are the effects of the war.
The country doesn’t have control as such. In fact, the efforts made by the government to lower VAT by eight per cent and subsidise fuel by Sh13 billion is some stop-gap measures to bring it down, though not sustainable.
What we should have done as a country was to have a national fuel reserve such that during such circumstances, we would be able to maintain a relatively low price.
There are those saying there are too many taxes on fuel that need to be done away with. Now, we have already made commitments using those taxes. The consequences of removing them are that we shall have messed up with our credit facility through domestic borrowing.
That money is being used through KeRRA, by almost all constituencies in Kenya - regardless of how they voted - for maintenance of rural roads. If we remove the taxes, the same people will demonstrate that we are not maintaining roads.
Where do we get money to maintain roads? It is from the fuel levy.
This fuel levy is being targeted for removal but it will be very painful to the same Kenyans.
During such circumstances that we don’t have control over, we call on Kenyans to be calm. This is an international phenomenon that affects everybody.
The government can still explore other ways to cushion Kenyans, for example, lower the PAYE like during Covid-19.
That way, we shall get some money into the people’s pockets. We can even reduce NSSF to maybe three per cent to cushion Kenyans.
Even SHA contributions can be reduced. That way, we will be able to have disposable income.
Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap spoke to the Star
