“The interventions in place have not borne any fruit,” Dr William Ruto said on Tuesday, September 13, in his inauguration speech.

The President vowed to discontinue the fuel relief scheme upon assuming office, saying it was causing a serious dent in Kenya’s economic buoyancy.

And barely 2 days after the inauguration, the prices of fuel in Kenya have reached a historic high. In Nairobi, a litre of petrol will retail at Sh179.30, while a litre of diesel will go for Sh165.00 and that of kerosene will be sold at Sh147.94. The new prices remain in force until October 14.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), in the price capping guide for August to September said pump prices for super petrol, diesel and kerosene would remain at the same levels as it was in July 2022.

EPRA said it had been forced to further stretch its finances by increasing its spending on the subsidy.

“The applicable prices for this cycle have been maintained as the ones applicable in the immediate previous cycle. The government will utilise the Petroleum Development levy to cushion consumers from the otherwise higher prices,” said EPRA in a statement.

EPRA which is the industry regulator said there was an increase in the cost of crude oil globally. This has led to an increase in the average landed cost, before consideration of costs such as taxes, inland transport and marketers’ margins.

The State has been subsidising motorists from the high cost of fuel since April 2021. It had spent more than Sh100 billion in a scheme, where it paid the oil marketing companies to stabilise pump prices.

The fuel subsidy had enabled Kenyans to save more than Sh100 billion that they would have spent on the commodity.