By Business Daily
Low-income households have borne the brunt of a botched cheaper cooking gas plan, with prices of kerosene and charcoal rising rapidly in the past three years.
Prices of the two commodities have doubled since 2016, an analysis of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data shows, hitting hardest the poorer homes that largely rely on them for cooking and lighting.
Paraffin prices have surged 116.93 percent to average Sh102.26 per liter in the January-June period of the year compared with a similar period in 2016 when the cost averaged Sh47.14.
A four-kilogram tin of charcoal retailed for an average of Sh143.02 in the review period, an 81.84 percent jump compared with three years ago.
The rise in kerosene prices, used to power cooking stoves and lanterns by poor homes as well as pockets of small-scale fishermen, is largely linked to last September’s imposition of Sh18 levy to deter use of the fuel to adulterate diesel. Read more>>
