Days after the drastic rise in fuel prices Kenyans are set for more suffering as President William Ruto said there will be no more subsidies on consumer goods including maize meal.
This comes a day after fares were hiked by up to 30% in Central Kenya by matatu operators after fuel prices rose by Sh 20 or more depending on the distance from Mombasa after President Ruto removed the fuel subsidy in a big departure from his campaign pledges.
President Ruto while addressing members of parliament of his Kenyan Kwanza coalition who were having a Parliamentary Group meeting in Naivasha, said his government would remove all subsidies on consumables saying they not sustainable and prone to abuse.
Ruto said the subsidy for maize meal would be removed but instead empower farmers with subsidised inputs so that they can produce food cheaply so that the price could go down.
He said when his predecessor President Uhuru Kenyatta introduced the subsidy on maize meal, the government spent Sh 7 billion in one month, yet majority of Kenyans did not access the maize meal.
His announcement was more bad news for Kenyans already suffering from increased fuel prices that sparked a chain reaction where other sectors that use petroleum products also increased prices of their products led by Kenya Power that increased electricity tokens (consumer units) by 15.7%
President Ruto has confounded both friend and foe after he went against his own campaign pledges to lower the cost of living starting with reduction of fuel and unga prices – but instead he is overseeing their sharp increase.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is also seeking to increase taxes and is seeking public input and Kenyans brace for tough times ahead.
