Rising fuel costs strain Nairobi households as global crisis bites

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]As fuel prices remain high, life has become increasingly difficult for many a household. For many Kenyans, this is the equation: working longer hours, spending more for less, and cutting back just to make it through the day. Our reporter, Safina Achieng Omar, spent the day interacting with residents across Nairobi and brings you their stories of how a war being waged half a world away has hit home.

[00:00:33]It's another busy day in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

[00:00:37]Down in Mukuru kwa Njenga, one of the largest informal settlements in Africa, residents are already out and about trying to make ends meet.

[00:00:48]Life here is unforgiving. If you do not move, you do not eat.

[00:00:55]At Mali ya Mungu kiosk, Jane Musyoki is once again trying her luck today.

[00:01:02]We find her busy making chapatis for her customers, carefully and skillfully preparing each one, hoping the day will not end like many others have recently, slow and unprofitable.

[00:01:26]This has been her lifeline for over a decade, but as the fuel crisis deepens, she fears she may soon be forced to close shop. Her profit margins continue to shrink as the cost of commodities rises sharply, squeezing her business and her hopes for stability.

[00:02:05]>> Operating within a vulnerable community, she has had to shoulder the burden just to keep her customers afloat.

[00:02:21]A mother of five, she has had to adjust both her lifestyle and the way she runs her business in order to cope. But for how long, she asks.

[00:02:36]Meet Jacqueline Muende, once a small-scale trader, but no longer in business.

[00:02:54]The single mother of three lives in a tiny mabati shanty. Every day, she's confronted with the harsh reality of providing for her family without a stable income.

[00:03:17]From rent, rice, milk to sugar, nothing in her monthly budget seems to add up.

[00:03:37]Jane and Jacqueline are a true reflection of what many Kenyans are currently going through.

[00:03:43]For many families, the math remains the same. One meal a day, walking instead of using transport, reusing, repairing, and rationing as the cost of simply existing continues to outpace what many people earn.

[00:04:31]Safin Atieno Omar, Citizen TV.