The sectors to watch in the new year
A Kenya Power Company Employee carry out repairs on a power transformer.
The year 2023 promises to be an interesting mix of the good, the bad and the painful, a review of key numbers that will shape the next 12 months shows.
As Kenyans welcome the new year, many will be looking towards the promise of new beginnings, hoping for a sigh of relief from the high cost of living, but that may not happen any time soon as prices remain high.
Here, Nation Newsplex looks at the numbers that will shape the new year.
Electricity cost
With the removal of the 15 per cent electricity subsidy, consumers will have to pay Sh2.8 more per unit of electricity (token).
While the subsidy was in place, one unit was Sh18.8 but currently users have to pay Sh21.6 for the same. This will mean an increase in cost of doing business and job losses, especially for businesses that rely on electricity for production.
A rise in electricity prices will also trigger a rise in prices of goods, which means higher inflation numbers. The move to remove the subsidy is in line with the Ruto administration’s stand against consumption subsidies.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also been pressuring the government to do away with the subsidies.
A pump attendant fills a tank at a petrol station in Nyeri town.
Fuel prices
Fuel prices are still high, with a litre of petrol retailing at Sh177.3, diesel Sh162 and kerosene Sh145.94 in Nairobi. These high prices mean basic commodity prices remain at an all-time high.
The removal of the fuel subsidy last September left many Kenyans struggling to meet their basic needs. An analysis of the pricing schedule from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority shows a litre of diesel has risen by Sh51.40 since December 2021 while that of petrol jumped by Sh47.58 in the same period.
A mobile subscriber uses a smart phone to share information in Nyeri on May 2, 2016.
Mobile transactions
The return of transaction fees for bank to mobile money wallets means any transfer of money to the wallets or from the wallets to the banks will attract a 20 percent excise fee.
The government had waived the charges on transactions in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to cushion Kenyans and promote cashless payments to limit the spread of the virus.
Grade Six pupils sit for the Kenya Primary School Education examination at Moi Nyeri Complex Primary School in Nyeri County on November 28, 2022.
Education
Some 1.2 million students who sat the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exam in November last year will be expected to join secondary school in line with the government’s 100 per cent transition policy.
“All the candidates whose results I am releasing today will be admitted to Form One. There should be no case of a guardian or parent keeping their child at home when admission to Form One is opened,” said Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Machogu while releasing the results.
School fees for students in secondary schools is also expected to rise after the government announced that the Sh8,500 fee cut in boarding schools due to the compressed school calendar will be reinstated. According to a circular from the Ministry of Education, parents will have to pay Sh53, 554 in national schools, as was the case before. This will apply to secondary schools in the counties of Mombasa, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Kiambu and Eldoret. Currently, parents with students in national schools pay Sh45, 054.
Additionally, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will hire 35,550 new teachers for junior secondary schools before the start of the first term this month.
This will be the biggest mass recruitment exercise by TSC since 1997. TSC boss Nancy Macharia said the exercise will be carried out transparently.
Of the new hires, 9,000 will be permanent and pensionable while the rest will be interns.
The Affordable Housing project in Ngara along Park Road, Nairobi.
Affordable housing
In its efforts to deliver affordable housing for Kenyans, the Ruto administration hopes to ramp up efforts to put up more than 55,000 homes in the year. Currently, there are 20 counties that are ready to construct 16,094 units if granted funding and other approvals. Some 39,102 units are expected to be realised from 57 housing projects in 34 counties by the National Housing Corporation.
Drought
As the drought continues to ravage parts of the country, some 4.3 million people are still in dire need of humanitarian aid with close to one million children experiencing malnutrition.
According to a study commissioned by Save the Children, more than two million children did not attend their third term classes in 2022 due to the drought. The study also reveals that over 3.5 million will not report back when schools reopen as the hunger crisis worsens.
Mr Abdi Boru shows carcasses of cows that have died due to drought in Dabel village, Marsabit County on August 24, 2022.
Environment
To restore the environment, the government has set the ambitious target of planting 15 billion trees by 2032. President Ruto while launching the National Programme for Accelerated Forestry and Rangelands Restoration in Ngong’, Kajiado County in December 2022, said the initiative will help combat the effects of climate change, which has unleashed calamities such as droughts, floods, and disease and pest outbreaks. Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya called on Kenyans to join the tree planting efforts.
