The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has been barred from reviewing the fuel prices upward until a petition filed in court is heard and determined.
Kituo Cha Sheria, a civil Society organisation filed a petition in a bid to bar the authority from raising the pump price this December.
In their petition, Kituo Cha Sheria said the price of fuel is already unbearable for Kenyans.
Through their legal affairs director Annette Mbogoh, Kituo cha Sheria said the fuel prices have reached the historical range and it has caused concerns with the current economic strains that citizens and businesses are facing.
”The petitioner contends that the high fuel prices have resulted in very high and unaffordable transport costs for both private and public means of transport.” The petition read in part.
According to the civil organization, members of the public stand to suffer irreparable loss and great inconvenience if EPRA and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum are not ordered to urgently scale down fuel prices that it says have resulted in slowed economic growth, decline in living standards as well as high inflation rates.
They said there was a contradiction by Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir in a presser where he averted that the government had put in place modalities to cushion Kenyans from the high pump prices, a contradiction to his statement while appearing before the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) where he attributed the skyrocketing cost of fuel to the Israel-Hamas war.
He told NADCO that fuel prices could get to sh 300 in the coming months should the war in the Middle East persist.
Kituo Cha Sheria in its submission says that Chirchir had neglected their obligation of ensuring stability in fuel prices in the country.
