00:00Kenya's opposition has given the government an ultimatum.
00:04Bring fuel prices down or face nationwide protests.
00:07They say President Ruto's administration has failed,
00:11that Kenyans are hurting and rightly angry.
00:14But behind the threat of mass action, a deeper question looms.
00:18Is the opposition genuinely concerned or taking advantage of the fuel crisis?
00:23Mi vile nilisikia iyo watu winyo au pinzani vile walistangaza iyo mambo ya mandamano.
00:30Niliona ni kama pia pandeo ingine wanaleta imu nini,
00:34wanauza sera yao yonekane wawo wakopande ya wanainchi.
00:38Ya wawo wanataka uchisaidea sababu ya siyasa.
00:41Na sababu ya siyasa yao na wanataka kuleta mandamano,
00:44watu wengi wataumia sana.
00:46Ya nambapu, serigali tena itafika mahali iseme anze kukombenzate.
00:50Na hiyo compensation unawana sasa ni munda inapoteza.
00:53Welcome to the flip side.
00:55Fuel prices are surging.
00:57The cost of living is squeezing households to the brink.
01:00The trigger?
01:01Escalating conflict in the Middle East.
01:04Choking key oil corridors and sending global prices soaring.
01:09Kenya, which imports nearly all its petroleum, is taking a direct hit.
01:13Fuel is up 25%, a record.
01:17Transport costs have spiked.
01:19Food prices are climbing.
01:21For millions already living on edge, something had to give.
01:25The government definitely knew that based on what has been happening in Iran,
01:32I think the government should have come in earlier to have a sit down with the stakeholders
01:39to just prepare them well for this.
01:42Analysts had warned.
01:44Global bodies flagged the risks.
01:46The signals were there.
01:48So what did the government do to prepare?
01:50In terms of what the government could have done, I think they've done quite a bit, given the
01:57circumstances and the volatile nature of the conflict in Iran.
02:00And yeah, the issues are there, pre-existing institutional issues that have been exposed
02:06by these external shocks.
02:08And that's what the government is trying to manage right now.
02:10Fair point.
02:11When COVID hit, no government was fully ready.
02:14Global crisis can overwhelm even strong systems.
02:18But critics argue this was different.
02:21Fuel shocks follow patterns.
02:23There was time.
02:24What steps can the government take to bring relief to its citizens?
02:28The government needs to do further engagements with the stakeholders before the next set of price
02:34adjustments, so that Kenyans are aware much earlier on what they expect to avoid the
02:43situation whereby they're being caught off guard.
02:45Then there's the opposition.
02:46It says it's standing with the people.
02:49But the timing has raised eyebrows.
02:51With elections on the horizon, is this about fuel or about power?
02:56The opposition is in a very, I would say, weakened state.
02:59And so, of course, they're going to jump to the occasion to use these public frustrations
03:04to mobilize ahead of the elections.
03:06But I think it goes deeper than that, because it's not just about the opposition trying to
03:13mobilize and to gain political mileage ahead of the election.
03:16It's also the fact that the way in which the government has handled the crisis has, you
03:23know, elated some genuine concerns from, you know, different Kenyans.
03:27For ordinary Kenyans, politics matters less than the price.
03:31They want relief.
03:33They want answers.
03:34The government says it's doing its best.
03:37In the meantime, the pain at the petrol station is real.
03:41But who's really fighting for the people?
03:43And who's fighting for power?
03:45That is the flip side.
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