National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has warned politicians against exploiting the rising fuel prices crisis to incite Kenyans.
Mbadi emphasised that the current global situation requires sobriety and understanding rather than political rhetoric.
Speaking amid growing public concern over the increasing
cost of fuel, Mbadi admitted that the crisis was painful and was affecting
economies across the world, including Kenya.
However, he cautioned leaders against misleading Kenyans into believing that the government alone was responsible for the situation.
“The current crisis of fuel prices is hurting. But leaders should not use this issue to incite Kenyans,” Mbadi said.
He noted that many people risked being consumed by politics without fully appreciating the magnitude of the global crisis affecting the energy sector.
“Kenyans may get lost in politics and forget to appreciate the magnitude of the problem we have. The biggest problem we have is supply, leave alone the pricing,” he said.
Mbadi explained that Africa largely depends on fuel supplies from the Middle East and that the ongoing conflict involving Iran had severely disrupted global supply chains.
“Twenty per cent of fuel consumed in the world comes from the Middle East through the Strait of Hormuz. I did not know much about that corridor before. The supply has been disrupted by the Iran war,” he stated.
According to the Treasury CS, the impact of the conflict will not end immediately even if peace is restored soon because key infrastructure has already been affected.
“Even if the war ends now, it will take five or six months before things return to normal. The refineries have been hit. It is a big problem. We should not laugh about it. It is not something to use to incite people,” Mbadi said.
He compared the current situation to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying leaders and citizens alike needed to approach the crisis with seriousness and calmness.
“It is like Covid-19, we need soberness,” he added.
Mbadi, however, assured Kenyans that the country was still
maintaining stable fuel supplies because the government had contracted three
major oil marketing companies to source fuel from different parts of the world.
“Fortunately for Kenyans, we contracted three major oil marketing companies to supply us with fuel. They source from all over the world and are not depending entirely on the Middle East and that is why we have constant supply, but the costs have been rising,” he explained.
The Treasury CS also revealed that the government may be
forced to continue subsidising fuel in order to cushion consumers from further
economic pain as global prices continue to rise.
