Paying Up to KSh 24 More Per Litre: Inside Northern Kenya’s Steep Petroleum Price Divide

While the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) froze national pump prices for the November 15 to December 14, 2026 cycle using a KSh 4.6 billion Petroleum Development Levy cushion, stark regional disparities continue to place refugee-hosting counties in northern Kenya under severe economic strain.

Because EPRA’s pricing formula factors in road haulage distances from coastal and inland depots, towns across the arid north consistently record the highest fuel prices in the country.

Under the latest November 2026 schedule, motorists in Mombasa pay KSh 223.81 per litre for Super Petrol and KSh 224.61 for Diesel, while Nairobi rates stand at KSh 226.96 and KSh 227.76 respectively.

By contrast, residents and transporters in Mandera pay KSh 247.62 for Super Petrol and KSh 248.41 for Diesel—nearly KSh 24 more per litre than at the coast.

Similarly elevated tariffs apply across key northern hubs and refugee-hosting corridors, including Eldas (KSh 245.18 for diesel), Elwak (KSh 244.66), Wajir (KSh 242.33), Liboi (KSh 238.58), Kakuma (KSh 236.66), and Garissa (KSh 234.13).

In regions hosting over 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers alongside vulnerable pastoralist communities—such as Dadaab in Garissa County and Kakuma in Turkana County—this fuel premium directly threatens food access.

Because arid counties rely heavily on long-distance heavy commercial trucks to ferry maize, cooking oil, vegetables, and humanitarian relief supplies from central and western agricultural zones, steep diesel prices immediately inflate freight charges.

Wholesalers and retailers inevitably pass these transport overheads onto consumers, eroding household purchasing power at a time when arid and semi-arid lands already face climate-induced food insecurity.

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https://peopledaily.digital/business/fuel-inequality-how-costly-epra-pump-prices-threaten-food-access-in-refugee-hosting-northern-kenya

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