President William Ruto on Monday explained the reasoning behind increasing the Road Maintenance Levy from Sh18 to Sh25.
This is after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) increased the rates on Sunday.
Initially, the levy was set at Sh18 per litre but the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) proposed a 39 per cent increase.
While speaking in Nakuru County, Ruto said that the increase would not affect the cost of fuel.
"Whatever we are doing in building new roads, and repairing existing roads does not translate to more money being paid by Kenyans," Ruto reassured.
"As a government, we have done a good thing, we have made sure that on the issue of Fuel Levy, we have gotten enough resources to cater for all the roads that need attention and those that have stalled to enhance transport.
"We have also ensured that the matter of fuel levy does not affect Kenyans. The price at the pump continues to go down."
Ruto added that it was necessary to increase the levy to increase the revenue for maintaining roads across the country. He assured Kenyans that his administration was focused on easing the cost of living.
Despite the increment, pump prices dropped by Sh1 for petrol, Sh1.50 for diesel and Sh1.30 for kerosine.
“The prices are inclusive of the 16 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) in line with the provisions of the Finance Act 2023, the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2020 and the revised rates for excise duty adjusted for inflation as per Legal Notice No. 194 of 2020,” Epra said in a statement.
