Moyale business owners lament high fuel prices
An aerial view of the Moyale-Ethiopia One-Stop Border Post. The business community in Moyale has decried the high prices of fuel, saying they were crippling transport in Marsabit County.
The business community in Moyale has decried the high prices of fuel, saying they were crippling transport in Marsabit County.
Former Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Moyale charter chairman Ali Muumin said the high cost of fuel had hit travellers and poor families hard.
“Some travellers have been forced to use lorries as a means of transport because they can’t afford bus fare,” Mr Muumin said.
Since June 20, when 50 buses plying the Moyale-Nairobi route threatened to ground their operations amid protests over surging fuel prices, life has become unbearable for residents.
Bus owners hiked fares from Sh2,000 to Sh3,000 from Moyale to Nairobi, while the cost of tickets for the Moyale-Marsabit route shot to Sh1,500 up from Sh800.
Fuel prices are now at a record high in Moyale, with one litre of petrol selling at Sh189, diesel Sh160 and kerosene Sh140.
Travelling on lorries
This has raised fares, forcing some poor families to start travelling on lorries ferrying livestock to Nairobi, a mode of transport that was popular with residents before the Moyale-Isiolo highway was built.
Higher transport costs have also been passed on to consumers.
Ms Mary Kathambi, who operates a grocery shop in Marsabit town, said rising fuel prices have hurt small businesses.
She explained that due to the high cost of transporting groceries from Meru to Marsabit, their businesses are no longer profitable.
"We’re exhausted. We never saw this coming. And with this inflation, we foresee ourselves being pushed out of business,” Ms Kathambi said.
Purchasing power dwindles
The consumption of many products has also gone down as residents’ purchasing power has dwindled.
For instance, one cabbage costs Sh150, watermelon Sh300, 1kg of kale Sh60, 1kg of tomatoes Sh100 and 1kg of onions Sh100. A 400g loaf of bread sells for Sh70 and 1kg of vegetable oil at Sh400.
A 10kg bag of sweet potatoes that goes for Sh400 in Meru retails at Sh800 in Marsabit town and Sh900 in Moyale.
Mr Muumin lamented that poor households are bearing the brunt of the high cost of living as inflation soars.
He said the prices of most commodities had doubled or tripled in the region, throwing poor families to the verge of starvation.
Ethiopia factor
Another factor leading to high food prices in Marsabit County is the imposition of market rules by Ethiopia that prevent small-scale Kenyan traders from freely trading in the neighbouring country.
The fuel that used to be relatively cheaper in Ethiopia is no longer accessible to Kenyans because they are not allowed to refill their vehicles there, while tankers have been barred from crossing into Kenya with the precious commodity.
Last month, World Food Programme official Samuel Kiarie painted a grim picture of how the high cost of fuel had become a major headache even to relief agencies.
He said the cost of transporting relief food across drought-ravaged areas in Marsabit was getting out of hand as the cost of fuel surpassed the amount spent on buying food.
