Governments in Africa which invoke price control measures on essential consumer goods, 'defeat' the whole theory and principles of liberalized market economies. The manufacturers find themselves in an awkward position because they have to abide with the State's demand by swallowing the given fixed prices to sell their finished products by.The Republic of Kenya is one great example whereby the National Assembly passed a Price Control Law in this nation. If assented by the President H.E. Mwai Kibaki, it'll require the Finance Minister to apply his immense powers granted by this new Law and gazette specific prices for specific household consumer goods like wheat, Kerosene, maize flour, cooking fat, rice and milk as well as tea leaves. Manufacturers who have been known in Kenya to peg their finished products' prices on the cost of inputs which they incur to produce, will suffer a major setback if President Kibaki assents the Law.Forex costs,cost of diesel, insurance, transport,and raw materials have been cited as the major input costs which Price Control will destabilize if they (manufacturers) are to calculate their profit margins.Majority of Kenyans can not afford a meal a day. They starve because cooking fat is too expensive and a 2kg packet of maize flour or a 400gms loaf of bread are beyond their economic reach.
This isn't the place for polictical rants, but often the reason for price controls is that other nations flood the market with cheap grains (rice, wheat, & corn) often sold below market value. While this seems like a "free" market and initially a good deal for the consumer, it affects local producers who can't provide their goods at that price. This in turn leads to local unemployment, which increases levels of poverty where there is no real welfare state. Ultimately it is bad for the consumer and even worse for the economy as local food production falls to the extent that the country has to rely upon imported food - which suddenly stops being supplied at below-market costs. This is particularly true in places like Africa where local production may not (yet) be as efficient or on as large a scale as other producers where economies of scale have a significant impact. Price controls can be a good thing in some circumstances where protecting the local production of basic commodities is essential for the long-term good of the country and its people, even if it initially causes hardship. That's a bit of a simplistic overview, but to suggest that price controls are the actions of a nasty uncaring government are often far off the mark. I know nothing of the Kenyan situation, but I bet there's more to their decisions than your post suggests.