The government has announced plans to remove taxes on Liquefied Petroleum (LPG) Cooking gas in a bid to lower its cost.
Speaking at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa, President William Ruto noted that his government will roll out a program that will ensure that cooking gas is affordable to Kenyans.
“In the next three years, all Kenyan houses will have cooking gas which is affordable. We are going to remove all taxes that are currently being levied on cooking gas so that we can make sure that every household in the Republic of Kenya has access to affordable LPG and we eliminate the wood fuel,” President Ruto said.
The head of state further ordered top managers at the Kenya Pipeline Company Limited (KPC) to expand the local terminal storage capacity of LPG gas to make it available countrywide.
Ruto was speaking during the launch of the Taifa Gas LPG terminal construction in Mombasa.
The head of state noted that as Kenya pursues clean and green growth, it is imperative to match the effort to the mitigation of climate change by embracing environment-friendly alternatives.
“It is time for this country to get aboard the agenda for environmental consciousness and ecologically sustainable practices,” he said.
He termed the launch of Taifa Gas a historic milestone on the journey to achieve self-sufficiency in ‘clean, green energy’.
The President asked KPC top managers to increase capacity that will provide reservoirs for cheaper LPG gas from Tanzania.
This project which is aimed at lowering the cost of cooking gas in Kenya will see an increase in capacity from 30,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes of LPG gas.
“I have ordered these officials to ensure that we have enough local capacity to store and process this gas in order to save our mothers from dangerous biomass cooking,” Ruto added.
Ruto explained that he expects government institutions, including secondary schools, to transit from biomass to LPG gas.
“By 2025, we expect all our schools and other institutions to have put in place mechanisms that ensure a modern way of cooking by cooking gas,” Ruto further directed.
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) data shows that Kenya imported 240,000 tons of LPG in 2022, up from 180,000 tons in 2021.
ERC data also indicates that, while many consumers have been put off by the high cost, LPG demand has been steadily increasing as more households switch from charcoal, firewood, and kerosene to gas.
Taifa Gas is Tanzania’s largest LPG supply company in East Africa.
