Open letter to Treasury CS Mbadi: Drop the blame game in petroleum prices and cushion Kenyans - Citizen Digital

By Sebastian Asava

Kenya has once again been treated to the usual game of blame-shifting and excuse-making by those entrusted with steering our economy. This time, it’s Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi attributing the sharp rise in fuel prices to the Israel-Iran conflict, even going as far as dismissing contrary views by the former Budget Committee Chair Ndindi Nyoro.

But as citizens, we must be concerned and ask if our country is the only country affected by global conflicts? Or are we simply the only country that treats them as a permanent crutch for domestic failure?

Truth be told, conflicts in the Middle East often cause some disruptions in global fuel supply. However, Kenya's pain at the pump cannot solely be explained by distant wars. Other countries—many even more dependent on oil imports than Kenya—have found ways to cushion their citizens. From subsidies to strategic reserves to renegotiated oil deals, leaders elsewhere are working. Tanzania is doing much better than us. Here, we hold pressers and pass the blame.

Let's remember that long before the Israel-Iran tensions flared up, Kenyans were already feeling the heat of high taxation, an unstable shilling, bloated debt servicing, and opaque oil procurement deals. The Economic Recovery Plan of the Kenya Kwanza administration promised a turnaround, but what Kenyans are experiencing is a turnaround for the worse.

If CS Mbadi wants us to believe this is entirely about Israel and Iran, then we must ask:

Why does fuel in landlocked Uganda and Rwanda sometimes retail cheaper than in Kenya?

Why hasn’t the government fully explained the murky oil import deal with Gulf nations that bypassed open tendering?

Why does the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) revise prices almost monthly with zero relief for ordinary citizens?

Kenyans are not foolish. We see the double standards. Empowerment programs that give one a boda boda today and fuel prices snatch it back tomorrow. You cannot shout about “empowering the youth” and then crush their businesses under the weight of unaffordable fuel, taxes, and inflation.

And while our leaders quote international wars, have they forgotten that we are living through a war of our own — a war on the cost of living? A war against hopelessness, joblessness, and economic suffocation?

What is even more insulting is how Kenyan leaders expect us to accept half-baked explanations without demanding solutions. We are not interested in watching MPs argue over who has the better excuse. We want fuel prices we can afford. We want our matatu fares to stabilize. We want mama mboga and boda boda operators to thrive. We want governance, not gaslighting.

If the Israel-Iran war is truly hurting our economy, then where are the mitigation strategies? Where is the leadership to shield the citizen? You cannot be in government only to complain like the rest of us. Governing means anticipating problems and solving them, not just reacting with blame and passing the buck.

To CS Mbadi and all others who sit in the driver’s seat of this nation: stop making excuses. Start giving us results. The time for stories is over.