NAIROBI, Kenya, May 15 — Former House Budget Committee Chair Ndindi Nyoro has proposed an urgent three-pronged intervention to bring fuel prices below Sh190 per litre after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced sharp increases in pump prices effective Friday.
Under the latest monthly review published on Thursday, super petrol prices rose by Sh16.65 per litre while diesel jumped by Sh46.29, pushing retail prices in Nairobi to Sh214.25 for petrol and Sh242.92 for diesel.
Speaking in Nairobi on Friday, the Kiharu MP warned that failure to contain the fuel price spike would trigger severe inflationary pressures and hurt the economy “to the tune of hundreds of billions.”
“We spend a little more money in terms of waivers and subsidies, and then we protect the economy going forward in the medium and long term,” Nyoro told reporters.
“Or we become laissez-faire and have a price to pay daily economically speaking,” he warned.
Nyoro said the government should immediately reduce fuel distributors’, retailers’ and wholesalers’ margins by Sh4 per litre from the current average of about Sh22.
He also proposed scrapping the 8 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel products that was reinstated under Legal Notice No. 70 of April 15, 2026.
“The second thing is that we must reduce our VAT further from the current 8 per cent to zero. In the short term, we must exempt fuel products from VAT,” he said.
EPRA had indicated that the latest prices factor in the VAT rate alongside inflation-adjusted excise duties and other fuel-related levies.
Nyoro further called for the abolition of the Sh7 Road Maintenance Levy increment introduced in 2024, saying the combined measures would lower super petrol prices to about Sh186 per litre and diesel to around Sh189.
He disclosed that he has already written to the Clerk of the National Assembly seeking amendments to both the VAT Act and Road Maintenance Levy framework.
Nyoro said the government should also release Sh5 billion from the Fuel Stabilisation Fund to cushion diesel prices, arguing that diesel costs have the biggest impact on production and transport across the economy.
“Diesel is an ascendant input in every production that we do in this country,” he said.
His remarks came even as EPRA attributed the latest fuel price increases to surging global petroleum costs, noting that the landed cost of imported diesel rose by more than 20 per cent between March and April.
But Nyoro argued that the tax burden and margins imposed locally remain the biggest contributors to pump prices.
“We are talking about close to Sh75 in taxes and levies and then the rest around Sh25 in terms of distribution and margins,” he said.
He urged MPs to support his proposed amendments, warning that Kenyans would closely monitor how legislators vote on the matter.
“I’ll initiate a process where members of parliament will sign either they support or they don’t so that Kenyans can clearly see who stands with them at this moment of crisis,” he stated.
Nyoro insisted the government has no option but to intervene urgently to shield households and businesses from escalating living costs.
“Whether you are going to reduce fuel prices or not is not on the table. You must reduce fuel prices. It is a matter of when,” he said.