A pump attendant fuels a car.
Fuel expenses by the National Police Service (NPS) more than doubled to Sh1.038 billion in the financial year to June 2024, new disclosures showed, on the back of increased operations to counter demonstrators and high prices of the commodity amid a weak shilling.
A newly published report by the Controller of Budget Office (CoB) shows that the NPS’ spending jumped by 136.34 percent in the period, up from Sh439.18 million spent in a similar period of 2023.
The jump is attributable to enhanced security operations between January and March 2024 when the country was rocked by Raila Odinga-led Azimio protests against the high cost of living and the Finance Act 2023.
In the quarter between January and March 2024 alone, the police service spent Sh330.35 million on fuel.
During the March protests, police officers were deployed to various parts of the country to disperse the protesters. The deployment was done in various towns.
There was more work for the police in June this year as Azimio supporters and Gen-Z groups took to the streets to protest the high cost of living and the punitive provisions in the Finance Bill 2024, which was later shelved by President William Ruto.
In addition to increased police activity as a result of the protests, expenditure on fuel was also affected by the weakening of the shilling against the dollar. For example, fuel prices hit a historic high of Sh229.37 and Sh223.29 per litre of super petrol and diesel, respectively, in the December 2023 cycle.
As part of efforts to tame runaway prices, the government last year signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and Emirates National Oil Company for the supply of fuel on credit for 180 days.
In the government-to-government deal, which took effect in April 2023, the three Gulf state-owned companies were given leeway to handpick local OMCs to distribute fuel on their behalf.
Gulf, Oryx and Galana were the local OMCs handpicked to distribute fuel products to other oil companies for the duration of the deal.
The CoB data further shows that State House spent Sh407.9 million on fuel, oil and lubricant in the year to June 2024, followed by the Correctional Services Department spent Sh230.07 million. The Immigration Department spent Sh161.9 million on fuel in the year to June 2024, while the State Department of Foreign Affairs spent Sh121.49 million and the Judiciary Sh24.04 million.
