Gridlock and Government Silence: Inside the Fuel Hikes That Paralysed Kenya

For two agonizing days, Kenya’s major arteries—including Thika Road, Mombasa Road, and Waiyaki Way—were transformed from bustling transport corridors into eerie, pedestrian-only paths. A nationwide public transport strike, organized under the banner of the Transport Sector Alliance, completely paralyzed the country. Public service vehicles (matatus), long-distance trucks, and digital taxis stayed off the roads, forcing millions of ordinary citizens to walk hours to work or remain stranded. The trigger for this explosive disruption was a sudden, staggering escalation in pump prices, pushing fuel costs to unprecedented historic highs.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) announced a massive price hike, driving diesel up by over 20%. While global supply shocks from the Middle East conflict undeniably strained markets, Kenyans saw the domestic spike as the breaking point of an already unlivable economic environment. Fuel acts as the lifeblood of the Kenyan economy; as pump prices surged, the cost of distribution trickled down immediately. Basic commodities like tomatoes, maize flour, and electricity skyrocketed, leaving households struggling to afford a single meal.

What transformed public frustration into outright fury and running battles with anti-riot police, however, was the government’s slow, dismissive response. For the first 48 hours, top officials largely minimized the domestic crisis. Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi went on national television to deflect blame, calling the strike “completely uncalled for” and arguing that Kenya could not solve a global crisis with domestic tools.

“Why are we trying to solve a global problem using domestic means? We have not caused the war.” — Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi

This posture of deflection deeply alienated a population expecting swift domestic intervention, such as tax cuts or the strategic deployment of the fuel stabilization fund. Critics pointed out that landlocked neighbors managed to maintain lower consumer prices, exposing deep structural inefficiencies and aggressive state taxation within Kenya’s own state-backed procurement model.

The two days of gridlock and civil unrest took a tragic toll, resulting in four deaths, dozens of injuries, and hundreds of arrests before the government finally agreed to a one-week suspension of the strike to facilitate urgent stakeholder negotiations. While the transport sector has temporarily resumed operations, the underlying tension remains explosive. The administration’s slow response has left Kenyans feeling abandoned in the face of predatory inflation, proving that ignoring the citizen’s economic plight risks turning local sector protests into a much larger national crisis.