Motorists Call for Disbandment of EPRA After Latest Fuel Review

The Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) has called for the disbandment of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) for what they describe as a consistent insult to Kenyans through marginal price reductions.
In a statement released barely hours after the latest fuel price review, MAK described the latest drop as cosmetic and detached from the economic realities of Kenya.
“Yesterday’s fuel price review, coming on the back of last month’s insulting one-shilling drop, is a slap in the face of hard-working Kenyans,” the Association said. “It is an affront to motorists and to the Kenyan public at large.”
On Sunday, EPRA reduced the price of super petrol by Ksh0.79, Diesel priceswere slashed by Ksh0.11,and Kerosene saw an almost negligible price drop of Ksh0.80 per litre.
In Nairobi, the new prices, effective from midnight on September 15, are Ksh184.52 for Super Petrol per litre, Ksh171.47 for Diesel, and Ksh154.78 for Kerosene.
According to MAK, the origins of the ‘flawed’ fuel pricing date back to 2013, when the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) was scrapped.
At the time, MAK successfully lobbied for a transparent and scientific formula under ERC, which the association says was openly discussed and applied. The formula was accessible to the public and had the input of stakeholders, including the media.
MAK argued that the system provided a predictable fuel price review, which was guided by actual global benchmarks and local economic conditions.
The association alleges that the situation deteriorated after the establishment of EPRA, which is accused of operating without transparency or public accountability.
The association further claimed that the monthly price setting by EPRRA was designed to consistently keep motorists anxious over fuel costs.
The statement went on, “Fuel procurement follows a three-month cycle from order to landing. There is no justification for revising pump prices every month. This monthly circus only conditions the public to accept exploitative, unpredictable price hikes.”
In its critique, MAK also highlighted the government-to-government (G-to-G) oil procurement framework, which the group says is opaque and has supplanted the more accountable open tender system.
In order to address all of these issues, MAK called for the EPRA to be dissolved immediately and switch back to the ERC pricing formula, which they say is more transparent, or the EPRA pricing formula.
Alternatively, the association called for a free market regime where fuel prices are dictated by global trends and competitive forces.
“The government has no business setting fuel prices. Let market forces work, and if the government wants fuel revenue, let it do so transparently,” MAK asserted.