Price of cooking gas to rise by Sh. 500 after new taxes

“We were not given any notice by KRA about the increase of the taxes, our trucks were just stopped at the border with customs demanding extra monies,” Yusuf Hussein, the chairman Independent Gas Dealers Association, said.

Kenyans have been paying record prices for cooking gas. As at April 2022, the cost of refilling the 13kg cooking gas was upwards of Sh. 3,300. This same cooking gas was trading at below Sh. 2,000 a few months ago.

In January 2022, the prices for cooking gas hit an eight year high of nearly Sh. 3,000 with multiple sellers pricing the 13-kg cylinder at Sh. 2,978.

Kenya’s LPG business is mainly controlled by big players, including Total, Vivo, Rubis, Oil Libya and Africa Gas and Oil (AGOL), which owns Proto gas.

Loaf of bread hits Sh. 60. Half litre of milk now past Sh. 80

The bulk of the cooking gas used in Kenya comes in through the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa but supply and distribution are concentrated among a few players.

Approximately 70 percent of households in Kenya still use wood stoves as either their primary or secondary cook-stoves, with a prevalence of 92 per cent in rural areas.