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The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill of 2023 has been proposed in Parliament by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, seeking to amend the Energy Act of 2019. The Bill seeks to double the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) levy to a maximum of 1% percent from the current ceiling of 0.5%. Consumers are currently paying a levy of 0.25% on petroleum products and 0.08% per unit of electricity consumed.
The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill of 2023 has been proposed in Parliament by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, seeking to amend the Energy Act of 2019. The Bill seeks to double the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) levy to a maximum of 1% percent from the current ceiling of 0.5%. Consumers are currently paying a levy of 0.25% on petroleum products and 0.08% per unit of electricity consumed. EPRA says that despite being a government agency, it does not receive any financial support from the public authorities. The regulator therefore reasons that any decrease in the amount of electricity and fuel consumed will greatly cut down on its revenues as these two products account for over ninety-five percent of its total revenue collections per annum.
All this is happening against the backdrop of sustained zealous public taxation by the government. The government has sustained pressure to introduce or increase taxes, levies, and fees. Last week marked the turning point in the government when it removed all subsidies, even the agriculture production subsidies that it had promised to sustain to allow cheap produce to reach the markets.
The government, through the Finance Act 2023 also introduced a raft of new taxes and levies which have left gaping holes in many citizen’s pockets as they grapple with fewer shillings in their purses to try to make a decent living. Within the past two weeks, the government has introduced, hastily withdrawn, and reintroduced hefty increments in service charges over very basic documents for its citizenry apart from those used by visitors. These increments are currently undergoing public participation awaiting their enactment in January 2024.
In Nairobi, petrol is now selling at an all-time high of Ksh.217.36 up from Ksh. 177.3 a year ago. Kerosene was sold at Ksh. 145.94 in November 2022 but is now retailing at Ksh. 203.06 while diesel, mostly used for production even in thermal electricity plants, sold at 162 in November last year but is retailing at Ksh. 203.47. The cost of electricity also went up with a review of electricity charges in April this year which saw some consumer tariffs rise by a staggering sixty-three percent (63%).
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If this new Bill sails through parliament, it will mark a new rise in the cost of these two vital products that have been at the primary end of pushing the high cost of living for Kenyans among others such as higher taxes. The Bill, if enacted, will just add more weight on the shoulders of hard-working Kenyans who probably use these energy sources at their input in production and it might be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Industries producing with the country must be observing keenly such moves as it reaches a point when it makes no sense to undertake local production anymore. As for the greater number of individual energy consumers, the introduction of this bill at this time is a show of insensitivity to their plight.
