President William Ruto has now admitted that it will not be possible to deliver on his pledge to reduce the price of a 6kg gas cylinder to a low of between Sh300 and Sh500 by June.

During a live joint interview from State House, Nairobi on Sunday, Ruto admitted that it was not feasible to implement the promise he had made back in March within the said timeline.

The Head of State had on March 2, promised Kenyans that his administration would remove tax on gas cylinders and that the move will see cylinder prices reduce to as low as Sh300.

“In order to reduce the gas prices we will remove the tax, the gas cylinders you buy will move from Sh2800 to Sh300 or Sh500 from the month of June,” Ruto had said on March 2.

While offering his explanation on Sunday, the President now says the plan will be approved by MPs in the 2023/2024 financial year budget, and come into effect on July 1, 2023.

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“We must first approve this in the budget. As of now, there is no way to waive the tax until a new budget is passed. June 1 is not possible until we pass it through Parliament,” said Ruto.

He says it was not possible to pass it through his administration’s Sh200 billion Supplementary Budget that he assented to on March 6 after being passed by Parliament.

“If we had passed it through the supplementary budget, June would be possible. But we tried to and it was not possible because it would force us to change a certain law,” he stated.