BUSINESS ECONOMY

Govt’s Ksh2,100 Gas Cylinders Return – Here’s Where to Find Them

MARTIN SIELEJul 25, 20221.8k

The 'Gas Yetu' brand sold under its Mwananchi Gas program. The program collapsed in 2018 after thousands of faulty cylinders were supplied to Nock.

The National Oil Corporation of Kenya (Nock) is set to reintroduce subsidized Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to the Kenyan market beginning August 2022 under the Mwananchi Gas program. The project was established with the aim of cutting low-income households’ reliance on wood fuels by increasing access to LPG.

For Ksh2,100, households will receive a 6Kg gas cylinder complete with accessories. This, contrasted with the current Ksh5,100 market price of a 6Kg gas cylinder.

“Under this project, each of the selected households will receive a 6kg LPG cylinder filled with LPG complete with accessories (a grill and a burner) at a discounted price of Sh2,100 contrary to the prevailing market price of Sh5,100,” Nock confirmed in a statement.

A total of 1.2 million households across the country are slated to receive the cylinders over the next six years. 60,000 households in Nairobi will however be the first to benefit – in Phase One of the program which begins in August.

The program collapsed in 2018 after being hit by fraud. 67,251 cylinders – more than a third of the gas cylinders supplied to Nock at the time – were rejected for being sub-standard, with some having faulty valves. Nock announced plans to use taxpayer funds to repair the faulty gas cylinders even as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) launched a probe into how firms were able to supply faulty cylinders for a government program.

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Where to Find the Cylinders

NOCK disclosed that it would set up stores in 11 sub-counties across Nairobi. It has acquired shipping containers to be used as storage and distribution points for the cylinders.

The containers will be stationed at sub-county offices in the county.

“Each of the 11 Nairobi appointed Mwananchi gas distributors has been assigned a container. The containers are located at the Sub-county offices country-wide.”

Nock acquired 290 containers, equivalent to the number of constituencies in Kenya – a pointer to its plans to ramp up the program.

“The corporation had procured 290 modified 40-foot-high cube containers, one for each constituency to be used as distribution points for the affordable Mwananchi Gas,” Nock disclosed.