President William Ruto on Sunday said that gas cylinder prices will not be reduced to between Ksh.300 and Ksh.500 for a 6-kilogram barrel by June as previously promised.
Ruto had on March 2 said, “In order to reduce the gas prices we will remove the tax, the gas cylinders you buy will move from Ksh.2800 to Ksh.300 or Ksh.500 from the month of June.”
However, in a joint media interview with journalists at State House in Nairobi, the president stated that the plan was no longer achievable within the time frame specified.
He stated that the plan needed to be approved in the next fiscal year’s budget, which goes into effect on July 1.
“We must first approve this in the budget. As of now, there is no way to waive the tax until a new budget is passed. June 1 is not possible until we pass it through Parliament,” Ruto said.
“If we had passed it through the supplementary budget, June would be possible. But we tried to and it was not possible because it would force us to change a certain law.”
He however assured Kenyans the plan is still in place, saying “We have planned it well and it is in our budget. We will also securitise the tax levied on kerosene to lower gas prices.”
