In December 2021, I bought a 13kg cooking gas at Sh1,500. The other day, I did it at Sh3,500 — a massive 133 percent jump within three months. This is not a demand and supply problem. We are grappling with the uncertainties that have gripped international petroleum markets in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
The government can tinker with VAT and excise duties on this important commodity and the option of triggering or introducing subsidies remains open. But the fact of the matter is that when it comes to petroleum prices, most of us in the developing world are mere price takers.
