This archive report was first published on 6 October 2021.
On October 5, 2021, Speaker Justin Muturi granted the House Committee on Finance seven more days to conclude its probe on two petitions regarding the increase in prices of petroleum and petroleum products.
The Committee, led by Chairperson Gladys Wanga, had requested the extension to consider new information on demurrage charges and their impact on fuel pricing.
Demurrage is a charge levied by shipping lines to importers for the time a ship takes to offload fuel at the Mombasa Port terminal for storage by Kenya Pipeline Company.
Speaker Muturi stated that he had received a draft Committee Report and was convinced that the additional information would greatly benefit debate in the future.
"You cannot provide one hand that you will provide this levy for this purpose and then somehow, you go and put your fingers there and you remove some of the funds but where it goes nobody knows," Muturi said.
He added, "But I like the way the Committee has identified some of those fingers, so that you as a House can make a determination on what to do with those fingers. You may decide to cut them, isn't it?"
The Committee has met 10 stakeholders, including the Principal Secretaries in the Ministries of National Treasury and Petroleum, Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and Kenya Pipeline Company.
