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Kenyan truckers plan fees raise over fuel prices

Tuesday March 23 2021
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Kenya transporters say they will increase cost of transporting cargo from the port of Mombasa to other destinations by $100 to $200 due to a hike in fuel prices. PHOTO | FILE | NMG

By ANTHONY KITIMO

Kenya transporters will increase cost of transporting cargo from the port of Mombasa to other destinations by $100 to $200, depending on the cargo and destination, in response to the surge in fuel prices announced this month.

Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) announced that truck owners were only responding to the action by the government, which had ignored their concerns.

KTA chief executive Dennis Ombok said the increment will take effect immediately, days after Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) announced raising wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products on March 15.

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“We have not raised transport cost for many years despite government increasing cost of fuel. We have been sensitive to consumers by asking the government to review Value Added Tax Act 2013 to remove VAT on fuels but the government has remained adamant. This month we have no option but to take that painful decision,” said Mr Ombok.

He said the road transport sector is one of the basic consumers of petroleum and diesel and that the increase in prices will trigger the rise of prices in the other sectors.

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He said the recent fuel price increase in Kenya — at an average of 13.5 per cent — will contribute to a rise of about eight to 10 per cent of production cost in the transport sector.

“The government of Kenya has remained insensitive to the transport sector and our decision to hike costs from cargo pick-up to delivery points will influence food prices but this can only stop if government rescinds previous fuel prices,” said Mr Ombok.

Transporters also warned of fuel revenue loss as most transit cargo handlers will opt to fuel their trucks in neighbouring countries where fuel is cheaper thus transferring revenue abroad.

“We shall be forced to fuel in Tanzania where I mostly take my cargo where a litre of diesel cost $0.83 compared with about $0.99 in Kenya. This will ultimately transfer revenue to Tanzania. This might seem to be a small amount but for my 12 trucks it represents significant savings,” said Salim Mohammed, a truck owner in Mombasa.

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