- They said government committed consult all public transport stakeholders to enhance road safety and look at tax measures that affect the industry negatively.
- The strike was called after the government proposed to increase the road maintenance levy by Sh7 from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre of petrol and diesel.
Image: FILE
A muti-sectoral meeting held Thursday has averted the planned transporters strike scheduled for Friday.
The Kenya Transporters Association said in a statement Thursday evening they have agreed to postpone the strike after holding talks with the government.
“Among the issues addressed include the status of the road network in the country and the fuel levy increase,” they said.
The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Roads and Transport, Matatu industry leaders, the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya Roads Board, KURA, KENHA, and KERRA.
“On their part, the government has reiterated its commitment to comprehensively form a consultative committee with all public transport stakeholders to enhance road safety and look at tax measures that affect the industry negatively,” the Transporters Association said.
According to the body, the government has going forward agreed to continuously consult with stakeholders on emerging issues to avert the impending public transport paralysis.
The transporters called for the now-suspended strike after the government increased the road maintenance levy, popular as fuel levy, by Sh7 from Sh18 to Sh25 per litre of petrol and diesel.
On June 12, then Transport and Roads CS Kipchumba Murkomen justified the hike saying there are increasing demands for road maintenance and construction.
It was a varied reasoning from the proposal by the Kenya Roads Board in its strategic framework to increase the fuel levy by Sh5 over a five-year period, which would see the levy rise to Sh23 per litre of diesel or petrol at the end of the phase.
Though Murkomen clarified that the increase of the levy would not translate to a high cost of living, transporters were apprehensive that this would spark a hike in pump prices back to the Sh200 per litre range.
The levy was increased even after Murkomen on July 8 said the government would review public comments on the proposed amendment to the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) order before implementing the proposed increase.
He said the ministry would first explore other ways of raising the needed resources to maintain roads without raising the cost of living through an increase in petroleum prices.
“From the views we have received, many Kenyans are worried that an increase in the levy will result in a rise in the cost of living and fuel prices," Murkomen said in a statement.
“As suggested by Kenyans, we will only make this decision when we are certain that any revenue measures adopted will not result in a rise in the cost of living,” he added.
Although the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) lowered fuel prices by an average of Sh1 in the July 14 review, the hike in the road levy saw pump prices stagnate despite a notable drop in global prices.
In the review, the regulator slashed petrol price by Sh1, diesel by Sh1.50, and kerosene by Sh1.30.
This translated to Sh188.84 for a litre of super petrol, Sh171.60 for a litre of diesel and Sh161.75 for a litre of kerosene in Nairobi.
They could have paid Sh6 less had the ministry not raised the levy.