Moses Kuria, the CS for Investment, Trade and Industry, has told off those lamenting about the hiked fuel prices.
Speaking in Uasin Gishu county on Friday September 15, during the opening of the Trade Fair at the University of Eldoret, Kuria said that those who were complaining and criticizing the government should instead drill their oil wells.
The CS noted that the high fuel prices were not only affecting Kenya but the world at large
“Sasa ukishinda asubuhi mpaka jioni bei ya mafuta imeongezeka si uchimbe kisima yako. Dunia mzima tunajua bei ya crude oil imeenda juu na kama wale watu wa makelele wakona na kisima mimi niko tayari kuchimba kesho nionyeshe boma yako niambie wewe chimba mafuta hapa ndio bei iteremke. Hawa watu ni wa maajabu ile mambo tunaweza kufanya hawafanyi. Ile kujisajili wapewe fertilizer hawafanyi na hio tunaweza ile hatuwezi kama mambo ya mafuta ndio wanalalamika,” he said, loosely translated into;
“If you are complaining from morning to evening about the high fuel prices, why don’t you drill your own well. We know that the prices of crude oil have risen across the world. If the noisemakers have wells I am ready to drill for them tomorrow, show me your home so that we can drill and see if the fule prices will go down. For those complaining, what we can do, they don’t cooperate, but they complain what is beyond ability like the fuel prices.”
The revised prices that were announced on September 14 saw petrol, diesel and Kerosene cross the Kshs200 mark.
“The maximum allowed petroleum pump prices in Nairobi are as follows: Super Petrol increases by Sh16.96, Diesel increases by Sh21.32 per litre and Kerosene increases by Sh33.13 per litre. The prices are inclusive of the 16 per cent Value Added Tax in line with the provision of the Finance Act 2023,” The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority(EPRA) said in a statement on Thursday.
Super petrol is currently retailing at Kshs211.66 per liter, Diesel at Ksh200.99 per liter while Kerosene is going for Kshs 202.66 per liter in Nairobi.
