Business was brought to a standstill in Migori town Thursday morning as motorists took to the streets to protest the high cost of fuel.
This is after the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority revised pump prices early this week.
The main Kisii – Isebania highway was blocked at the River Migori bridge located at the heart of the town, disrupting traffic flow for the better part of the morning.
Other sections along the highway within the town were also blocked.
Several businesses remained closed as workers had a difficult time accessing the town and at the same time the owners feared opening as tension gripped the town.
Road side venders who had woken up early to sell their wares also looked on in confusion, fearing that the peaceful demonstrations could escalate to chaos.
The angry residents demanded to know why the government was constantly increasing fuel prices despite Kenyans going through a tough time caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is not in order for someone to just wake up one morning and increase fuel prices and ignore that this country belongs to millions of hustlers that depend on the fuel to generate income,” a resident told the press in an interview.
The residents also called out elected leaders for staying silent when such ‘atrocities’ were being committed towards Kenyans.
One resident wondered why legislators are always loud and active on matters touching on increase of their salaries and allowances but were silent on matters critical to them.
The residents who were still engaging police in running battles at the time of going to press vowed to mount demonstrations till their demands are met.
Fuel prices in the country hit an all time high as the energy regulator — Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) — removed subsidies of Sh7.10 on petrol, Sh9.90 on diesel and Sh11.36 on kerosene that applied on the prices of fuel sold in the month to September 14.
This increased the price of petrol by Sh7.58 a litre in Nairobi to Sh134.72 while diesel has jumped Sh7.94 to Sh115.6 a litre.
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