DCP Leader Rigathi Gachagua has warned President William Ruto that he would call for national protests if the government revised the price of fuel products upwards in the upcoming review.
Speaking in Matuu, Gachagua argued that increasing the cost of fuel will cause a ripple effect, pushing the prices of basic commodities higher to cater for the increased transportation costs.
He urged President Ruto to scrap the extra 8 per cent value-added tax (VAT) imposed on fuel products to cushion Kenyans from a projected steep increase in prices.
“If you dare to increase the cost of petrol, diesel or kerosene, we will tell Kenyans to go to the streets to ask you to go home.
“If you want to protect Kenyans from the high fuel prices, do away with the 8 percent VAT that you had imposed on oil products and withdraw the Ksh7 petroleum levy imposed on every litre of fuel,” the ex-DP stated.
The DCP leader sensationally claimed that Ruto was pushing for fuel prices to increase because he was part of the oil business.
He claimed that Ruto co-owned a fuel company and had made a profit of about Ksh1.5 trillion since the inception of the government-to-government deal.
“Ruto is in the fuel business in Kenya and has made over Ksh1.5 trillion from it. He partnered with a businessman called Njogu from Meru to form Gulf Energy, which is part of the G-to-G arrangement, and they are the ones selling fuel in the country.” Gachagua stated.
Ruto’s former Number Two alleged that the Head of State had sent Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi to the Gulf to negotiate with businessmen to ensure the pump prices are revised upwards.
“As we speak, he has sent Njogu and Wandayi to the Middle East to negotiate with the Sheikhs so that they can increase the cost of petrol so that his profits can increase,” he claimed.
His sentiments came amid reports that the cost of fuel would increase owing to developments in the international market.
The transportation of fuel has been frustrated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian government owing to the ongoing war with Israel and the USA.
Consequently, some fuel retailers have resorted to hoarding their reserves in anticipation of a Ksh50 increase per litre of petrol in the next review.
The hoarding has led to an artificial shortage in most parts of the country, and some petrol stations have already increased their prices to as high as Ksh230 per litre
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