Cost of Living in Kenya on the rise

Kenyans will be paying more for transportation in the coming days following the recent increase in fuel prices, which is expected to further push the cost of living in Kenya.

The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) has already asked its members to review by a minimum of five percent transport cost.

“This is in response to the recent increase in fuel landed costs and the depreciation of the Kenya shilling. Transporter’s margin can no longer sustain any increase in costs and regrettably have to pass the increase to the cargo owners for the road transport sector to survive,” KTA chairman Newton Wang’oo said in a statement.

The increase in cargo transportation will have a ripple effect in the cost of commodities, further increasing the prices of consumer goods.

Prices of sugar, wheat flour and cooking oil are among the consumer goods, whose prices have reached an all-time high.

Bamburi Cement is also among firms that have announced a price increase of up to 10 percent on its products.

“The cost of raw materials continues to increase disproportionally compared to what Bamburi Cement Plc can absorb and therefore we have to pass some of the costs to the market,” Bamburi Cement said in a statement.

The Matatu sector is also expected to increase fares.

According to the latest monthly price review by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), a litre of super petrol will retail at Sh134.72 in Nairobi from Sh129.72 while diesel will go for Sh115.60 from Sh110.60.

A combination of unmatched demand by oil-producing and exporting countries and supply constraints occasioned by the Russia/Ukraine conflict has this month pushed crude prices beyond the $100/barrel (Sh11,420) ceiling set the stage for further oil prices hikes in the coming months.

The upcoming general elections in Kenya are also not making things any easier and the ordinary mwananchi can only hold on to the popular hope that “things will get better”.