Kenya to cut diesel price after protests against soaring energy costs

Kenya's President William Ruto said on Friday the government would cut the price of diesel in the East African country to provide relief to consumers after protests over soaring energy costs caused by the Iran war.

Kenya's public transporters this week staged a two-day strike that left four people dead and about 30 injured, driven by public anger over sky-high fuel prices that pushed up the cost of living.

In a televised speech, Ruto said that he had directed that the cost of diesel be cut by 10 Kenyan shillings ($0.0772) in the June-July pricing cycle to help stabilise pump prices and provide additional relief to consumers.

"Through the government to government fuel supply framework, we have secured guaranteed fuel supplies, despite global supply chain disruptions, ensuring uninterrupted fuel supply availability across the country," Ruto said.

He said his government had spent at least 28.1 billion Kenyan shillings on fuel price reduction measures like tax relief between April and June.

Last week, Kenya hiked retail fuel prices by as much as 23.5 per cent for the May-June pricing cycle amid squeezed global crude supplies and high energy prices caused by the Middle East conflict.