Kenyans queue for fuel
Nairobi motorists queue for fuel at a Shell petrol station near Panafric Hotel as a shortage for the commodity persisted May 4, 2011. ANTHONY OMUYA
Long queues formed in Nairobi and its outskirts Wednesday as a crippling fuel shortage continued to bite.
Motorists were turned away from most oil stations for lack of petrol and diesel, while others patiently waited for their turn to fuel their cars.
Even as Kenyans were inconvenienced, the Ministry of Energy said despite availability of adequate stocks of petrol in Nairobi and Mombasa, oil marketing companies did not request the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) to pump the product between April 29 and May 2.
“Both KPC and KRA (Kenya Revenue Authority) would have availed requisite staff over this period to attend to any requests by the oil marketing companies, had such requests been made,” said Permanent Secretary Patrick Nyoike.
Energy minister Kiraitu Murungi on Tuesday down-played talk of a possible fuel crisis while ruling out any pump price hike.
“What we experienced a few days ago is a delay by operators to get super petrol and diesel from the Kenya Pipeline system and not a shortage,” said Mr Kiraitu.
