Motorists stranded as fuel crisis hits Kericho town

Hundreds of motorists in Kericho town were Wednesday morning stranded following an acute shortage of fuel that hit the town and surrounding areas mostly supplied by independent oil marketers.

Total Petrol Station was the only fuel station in Kericho’s Central Business District with fuel leading to long queues of motorists who wanted to stock up on the remaining fuel as the rest of the petrol stations in town remained deserted due to lack of fuel.

Some of the motorists who spoke to Kenya News Agency lamented that the shortage of fuel had started to be experienced on Sunday evening at all major gas stations within the town.

“We hope this situation will be sorted out since we cannot operate our businesses without fuel. Right now, we are buying 1 litre at Ksh.135. I have no option, my tank has to be full,” Ezekiel Mutai, a motorist said.

Meanwhile, commuters using public service vehicles in town had to grapple with hiked bus and boda boda fares as drivers and riders decried the current fuel shortage.

“Matatus and boda bodas have started to hike fares, we hope this crisis is resolved so that we get back to normalcy,” said Nancy Chebet, a Commuter in Kericho.

In a statement, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority assured the public that there were enough fuel supplies in the country as the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining, oil marketers, and other sector stakeholders have resolved the issues affecting supply and are working towards the restoration of normalcy.