Is Epra ceding too much ground to the Executive on fuel?

Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen addressing the media at Harambee House in Nairobi on May 19, 2026. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) is in the spotlight after appearing to be ceding its regulatory role to the Executive, with Cabinet Secretaries and even the President having a bigger say in retail cost of petroleum products.

The petroleum industry regulator appears to have been sidelined this week during a key decision-making process that led to the change in the pump prices of diesel and kerosene.

On Monday evening, Epra was relegated to merely communicating the outcome of an ad-hoc process steered by the Cabinet Secretaries for Interior, Transport and Energy.

The regulator later Monday evening issued an amendment to its price-capping guide, reducing the price of diesel to Sh232.86 per litre in Nairobi—a Sh10 drop from the historical high announced just days prior on May 14.

Kerosene prices were increased sharply by Sh38.60 to Sh191.38 per litre from the Sh152.78 announced last week

A similar scenario had unfolded in April, where President William Ruto announced a 50 per cent reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) on petroleum products, just hours after Epra announced pump prices for the April-May cycle.

The announcements by the President and his CSs appear at odds with the Petroleum Act of 2019 and the Petroleum (Pricing) Regulations of 2022, which empower Epra to take to “determine and publish the maximum wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products on the 14th day of every calendar month” that then become effective on the 15th.

The regulations further give the formula that Epra uses in determining prices. While the law is not explicit on altering the prices outside the “14th day of every month”, there are instances where significant developments, including policy and tax changes, have informed issuance of amendments to the pump prices.

Yesterday, Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen and Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi held a joint press conference with public service vehicle operators, announcing that they had held day-long consultations and agreed to suspend the strike that had crippled the country.

“Following consultations, it was agreed there was a need for negotiations at a high level within one week between now and May 26 and the strike is suspended,” said Mr Murkomen

In directing Epra to reduce the cost of the two petroleum products, the CSs were following in the footsteps of President Ruto, who during the April-May pricing cycle issued a directive on the reduction of VAT to eight per cent.

On April 15, following public backlash on fears that diesel and petrol retail at Sh206 per litre would cripple the economy, the President announced that the government had taken a further cut in petroleum taxes by reducing VAT by 50 per cent to eight per cent.