In 1960, vehicles in Kenya ran on untaxed light diesel

Cars crossing Mtwapa bridge at the Mtwapa Creek, Mombasa, June 24, 1958. [File, Standard]

Kenyans have in the last few days lamented on skyrocketing fuel prices. Online jokes riding on the issue keep surfacing by the day.

Some have suggested that a young man seeking to propose to a lady should bring a litre of petrol in the place of a ring. Crafty and manipulated images of a man buying some fuel in a baby feeding bottle have flooded online forums as do those of a man sniffing some fuel in a petrol station for a small fee!

At the centre of the high fuel prices is the never-ending issue of taxation. Fuel presents easy pickings for a government keen to shore up revenue...