Pity the honest Kenyan businessman....

Sigh... I feel for the honest Kenyan businessperson... Here is an example of how they get screwed on a regular basis!

Shouldn't there be a legal "Supreme Body" that can sort out such administrative matters? Why should the poor taxpayer get caught up with the antics of such idiots?

I have written before on how the Government of Kenya (GOK) screws (I want to use another 5-letter word but I want to kee the blog G-rated) the Kenyan consumer. Unfortunately, the (dumb) consumer blames the wrong party coz the GOK puts a populist spin to it...

GOK direct taxes constitute almost 35% of the cost of petrol at the pump. After adding other local & national taxes (payroll, land rates, unrecoverable VAT, etc) the amount is closer to 50%...

So when you curse the Oil Companies for charging 80/- per litre for petrol, the GOK (& local municipalities) have their 40/- hidden right in there. Using the 40/-, the Oil Marketers have to import the Oil/Oil products, transport it to the stations, pay its staff, pay interest before making any profit.


Did you know that Petrol Stations in Kenya are NOT allowed to breakdown their charges to you i.e. they can't show what part of that 80/- is paid as direct taxes even though this is an easy feat/calculation using today's technology.

Why you ask?

Because the GOK wants to HIDE their thievery! They expect citizens to resist/protest these taxes IF the citizens knew about them. Instead they let the Oil Marketers be the "bad" guys while some idiot called the Energy Minister lambasts Oil marketers for rising fuel prices while the GOK doesn't even refund (or pay interest on) VAT & Duties to the Oil Marketers...!

And most of us (the almost dumb) citizens can't see beyond our noses...
(Erm, except me & some others)

So I want to bring this to your attention... please, please, please provide me with additional hard data that I can post here. Few of the Oil Marketers are willing to go on record about this issue since they fear a backlash.

Shell(K) experienced this when they played hardball in 2006... they paid for it when the issue of BP's takeover came into play in 2007. Shell had to sell some stations to NOCK (a GOK entity) at a discount for standing up to the GOK's excesses.

KPC & KPRL's poor management has led to substantial loss of business for Kenyan Oil Marketers who export to other African markets. What a pity... since Kenyan jobs are at stake...