Still reeling from the shock of a drastic hike in monthly fuel prices announced by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, EPRA, last night, commuters across the country will now have to pay more for transport.

Public Service Vehicle operators countrywide have wasted no time transferring the cost to commuters, announcing a 25 per cent hike in bus fares citing high fuel costs.

Matatu Owners Association national chairperson Albert Karakacha announced Wednesday that the transport sector had increased fare with immediate effect, and that the change was going to apply to both short and long-distance operators.

“It is not our wish. Please bear with us. Most matatus use Diesel and we’ve consulted widely with our members and agreed on increasing fares by 25 per cent,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, the petroleum regulator announced that Petrol will now retail at Sh206.97 per litre, an increase of Sh28.69 while Diesel will retail at Sh206.84 per litre at the pump following an astronomical jump of Sh40.30.

The price of Kerosene has remained unchanged.

Commuters and motorists have consequently directed their anger at the government. The Matatu Owners Association, the Boda-Boda Association and the Motorist Association of Kenya have all hit out at the state for failing to consult stakeholders before announcing the changes.

“We are shocked, angry and we feel betrayed. Diesel is the backbone of transport. This will affect the business sector immensely,” said Peter Murima, Chairman of the Motorist Association of Kenya.

“Our neighbours have not increased prices by this margin. We will not bear the effects of increased fuel prices, the consumer will. We are calling out Wandayi for lying to us that Kenya has enough reserves and will not face any destabilization. Our oil is not affected by the Iran war.”

The various stakeholders are now calling on President William Ruto to consider measures to cushion Kenyans from global shocks affecting fuel prices locally.

“We are urging the government to go back to the subsidy that was there before. It will be easier to bring down the cost of fuel,” added Karakacha.

Tuesday’s fuel price announcement was accompanied by a rider that the government had reduced Value Added Tax on all fuel.

“Effectively, the Value Added Tax rate of Super Petrol, Diesel and Kerosene has been reduced from 16 per cent to 13 per cent in order to cushion consumers from the high landed cost of petroleum products as a result of escalated prices in the international market,” read the statement by EPRA.

While on a development tour of the Kisii region, President William Ruto has cited the crisis in the middle east as the reason for the destabilization of the fuel market, hailing the Government-to-Government arrangement as a game-changer.

“We have reduced VAT so that Kenyans do not bear the brunt of excessive fuel prices. We are going to monitor the situation to make sure that we cushion ourselves as a country. We will cushion our economy and our transport sector,” said President Ruto.

The government says that it has used Sh6.5 billion to subsidize fuel in efforts to moderate prices.