One of many African countries dependent on fuel imports from the Gulf, Kenya has been heavily hit by Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes.
Last week, the Kenyan government announced price hikes in response to rising global oil prices, including a 23.5-percent increase for diesel — triggering a call for the strike by transport workers.
Protesters barricaded roads and lit bonfires on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, early on Monday and tried to stop cars and “boda boda” motorbikes, an AFP journalist saw.
The usual congestion in Nairobi’s central business district was missing, with schools closed and events cancelled.
“They do not want to listen to the citizens when we say the prices are too high,” Alex Koome Mwenda, 22, told AFP.
Thousands of commuters across the country were stranded after privately owned “matatu” minibuses, Kenya’s main form of public transport, went on strike.
The protests spread to other major towns, including Mombasa, Nakuru, Eldoret and Nyeri.
“The strike is completely uncalled for, even though the prices of petroleum products have risen,” said treasury and economic planning minister John Mbadi.
“This is a war that we have not caused,” he told the NTV broadcaster.
Critics argue that Kenya has high taxes on fuel that could be reduced, although it is also reliant on them to service high levels of debt and a strained budget. (France 24)