There’s nothing much to smile about for Kenyans this valentines as prices of basic commodities keep skyrocketing by day forcing consumers to dig dipper in their already stretched pockets.

Fuel prices have now shot upwards again as announced by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in the latest review. The price of super petrol has gone up by sh4.26 cents per litre to hit the sh100 mark.

“Diesel increased by 12.07 percent from US$446.84 per ton to US$500.78 per ton and kerosene increasing by 7.44 percent from US$487.91 per ton to US524.20 ton,”

According to ERC, the increase in fuel is a result of a rise of the super petrol landing costs.

“The changes in this month’s prices have been as a consequence of the average landed cost of imported super petrol increasing by 8.45 per cent from US$530.24 per ton in December last year to US$575.06 in January this year,” said ERC in a statement.

In Kisumu, a litre of super petrol will sell at Sh102.25, diesel at Sh91.44 and Sh69.12 for a litre of kerosene. Nakuru a litre of super petrol at Sh101, diesel Sh90.19 and kerosene at Sh68.06 while in Eldoret, super petrol will retail at Sh102.18 per litre, diesel Sh91.37 and kerosene at Sh69.13.

Motorists in In Mombasa, a litre of super petrol will sell at Sh96.85, diesel Sh85.87 and kerosene at Sh64.34 for the next one month.

High cost of fuel in Kenya contributes to rising inflation

Fuel prices started soaring in November last year, the same time the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics announced that inflation had been on the rise owing to a high cost of food. 

Food prices have also been rising due to the drought that is ravaging the country, which president Uhuru declared a national crisis a week ago.