State must ensure that increase in transport cost doesn't worsen our pain

Transporters have said they plan to increase the cost of their services as they seek to cushion themselves from the recent increase in fuel prices and pass the additional costs to their customers.

This could have the effect of pushing up the cost of basic goods as their customers, who include producers at the farm and industrial levels, are also likely to pass on the high costs to consumers.

This will be coming at the worst time, when Kenyans are battling a mix of challenges that have all resulted in high cost of living. Coming from a prolonged dry period, Kenyans are currently battling higher food prices. It is also at a time when many are still battling the impact that Covid-19 had on their incomes, with the earnings of many businesses and even employed Kenyans yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

It would be impractical to ask the government to look into ways of bringing down the cost of fuel, considering that the factors that have pushed up the oil prices are beyond its reach. It is also notable that government has made efforts to cushion Kenyans by subsidising the price of diesel, the primary fuel for transporters, by as much as Sh27 per litre.

The government could, however, consider offering logistics companies tax reliefs and other concessions to ensure that they do not raise the cost of moving goods by huge margins. With tax breaks, they can retain the cost of their services at current levels.

Another factor that has always pushed the cost of transport in the country up is inefficiencies on our roads. The Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority estimates Sh100 billion is lost annually due to traffic jams through lost man-hours and fuel that goes to waste as vehicles idle in traffic.

Other factors that have over the years pushed up the cost of transport include barriers for transporters, such as numerous police roadblocks, many of them unnecessary and which have become avenues for corruption.

Easing traffic jams as well as reducing some of the barriers that keep transport costs high could enable transporters to reduce the cost of delivering materials to factories and farms or the produce to markets, savings that they can be passed on to customers.

In addition, while the government has done well by expanding road, rail and other transport infrastructure, it should ensure that these work to reduce the cost for transporters and in turn the general public by removing the bottlenecks that limit the impact of the mega infrastructure.

In a nutshell, even as the country stares at higher transport costs, the government is not short of options that it can deploy to ensure Kenyans, who are already suffering due to unprecedented increases in prices of basic commodities, do not feel further pain.

Three weeks of acute fuel shortage have shown us how difficult life can get when transport is disrupted. The government must step in and save Kenyans from drifting back to this nightmare.