NAIROBI, Kenya — Senator Edwin Sifuna has escalated political pressure on President William Ruto’s administration, accusing it of misleading Kenyans over fuel pricing assurances that preceded a sharp increase in pump costs.
In a post on X, Sifuna argued that it is a criminal offence under Kenyan law for public officers to provide false or misleading information. He claimed the government had issued repeated assurances that fuel prices were under control, only for consumers to later face a steep increase.
“It is actually a crime under Kenyan law for public officers to give false/misleading information,” Sifuna wrote. “We have been told a bunch of open lies about the fuel situation… only to hit us with a 40 shilling increase two weeks later.”
The senator specifically referenced earlier remarks attributed to President Ruto, in which the Head of State said government “strategic interventions” had mitigated fuel price increases.
Sifuna contrasted those assurances with the subsequent surge in pump prices, arguing that the public had been misled about the real state of the fuel market.
He further criticised unnamed government experts who had defended the administration’s fuel pricing strategy, suggesting that official explanations had not matched outcomes experienced by consumers at the pump.
President Ruto, through previous public addresses, has consistently maintained that global oil market fluctuations, exchange rate pressures, and geopolitical instability have influenced local fuel pricing.
The government has also defended its subsidy and stabilization measures as necessary interventions to cushion consumers from sharper global shocks.
The fuel price debate comes at a time when households and transport operators are grappling with rising costs of living, with fuel being a key driver of inflation in Kenya’s economy.
The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) periodically adjusts pump prices based on international oil prices, landed costs, and tax structures.
Sifuna’s remarks have intensified the political dispute over economic management, with opposition voices increasingly framing fuel price hikes as a governance and accountability issue rather than purely a global market outcome.
Government allies, however, continue to attribute the increases to external shocks beyond Kenya’s immediate control.
As public frustration grows over transport and commodity costs, the exchange underscores a widening political divide over how economic communication is handled and whether state assurances align with lived realities.
