“We Have Enough Stock,” GoK On Fuel Shortage, But Where Is It?

An acute fuel shortage was reported across the country this week forcing motorists to queue for hours in search of the commodity with most filling stations not selling diesel and petrol.

The shortage has been attributed to low amounts of fuel imported into the country by oil marketing companies who claim that the government has not paid them subsidies for the last four months.

In a press statement dated 2^nd April 2022, Kenya pipeline company (KPC) denied the fuel shortage claims adding that there was sufficient fuel stock in all their depots across the country.

“Kenya pipeline company would like to confirm that there are ample stocks of petroleum products in our system throughout the country to meet demand,’’ KPC Managing Director, Dr. Macharia Irungu said.

On Sunday, most parts of Nairobi, Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza, and western Kenya were still witnessing limited or low fuels. In Nairobi, very long queues were witnessed at almost all filling stations along Thika road, Limuru road, Mombasa Road, and Waiyaki way. Queues stretching kilometers caused traffic with police having difficulty in controlling motorists.

Many petrol stations turned away customers while others rationed the commodity due to unavailability. Some motorists had to buy fuel in Jerricans and ferry them to their vehicles following the long queues witnessed. Some filling stations that managed to have a few liters of the commodity raised the price due to demand, defying the directive on prices issued by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA).

For instance, at Shell near weighbridge along Thika road, a liter of petrol was retailing at 159.9 shillings. In Kericho, petrol prices hit a new high of 200 shillings per liter.  In Mombasa, motorists complained that the product was being sold at 136 shillings per liter.

Motorists in Laffey and Elwak towns in Mandera county were forced to source fuel from Somalia while Takaba and Banisa towns are supplied from Ethiopia.

Motorists from Western Kenya have been forced to drive across the border to Uganda to get the much-needed commodity.

Some PSV vehicles had to halt operations due to difficulty in getting fuel while others doubled their fares. Matatus operating between Bungoma and Webuye raised their fares from 100 to 200 shillings.

KPC managing director Macharia Irungu revealed that there are over 69 million liters of petrol, over 94 million liters of diesel, 13 million liters of kerosene, and over 23 million liters of jet fuel.

This has left many Kenyans with a lot of questions regarding the cause of the shortage. According to sources, the oil marketing companies that import fuel into the country are hoarding the commodity over the delayed payments from the government.