Popular activist Okiya Omtatah on Thursday filed a case against the new Petroleum (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) Regulation 2019 that restricts traders from accepting different gas cylinder types when refilling them.
According to the government, the new regulation was meant to curb illegal refilling of gases, illegal re-branding and other counterfeiting involved in the gas cylinder sector.
However, Omtata termed the law unconstitutional and wanted it scrapped off.
He argued that the law will negatively affect users and private re-fillers, whose work has greatly helped the Kenyan Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market.
“The claim that the impugned restrictions on refilling are meant to reign-in rogue gas re-fillers does not hold water as the respondents have law enforcement to help them with their work. There are alternative ways of addressing the concerns without punishing innocent consumers and independent re-fillers. Registered and equipped to refill LPG in cylinders irrespective of the brand,” reads part of the court papers as quoted by Citizen Digital.
More so, Omtata noted that the law will lock out small scale traders who have majored in all the gas cylinder types. He argues that the law is faulty as it is not in the Kenya Gazette.
“It is unacceptable to enforce any law which has not been published in the Kenya Gazette. Before publication in the gazette, the instrument lacks the endorsement of the Government Printer, who is the official publisher of the Government, and guarantees the imprimaturs of all the publications the facility publishes,” he noted.
Omtata further noted that when someone buys a gas cylinder, the ownership is changed thus the person can choose how to refill their gas cylinders.
He seeks the court to squash the law as it inhibits trade among local traders.