People queue to purchase fuel at a gas station in Nakuru County, Kenya, April 4, 2022. (Photo by Sheikh Maina/Xinhua)
Kenya's three-week fuel crisis, blamed on fuel hoarding by oil marketing firms awaiting price reviews, has eased as supplies improve at gas stations after the government raised pump prices.
NAIROBI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's three-week fuel crisis has eased as supplies improve at gas stations after the government raised pump prices.
The government on April 14 raised prices of petrol and diesel by 0.09 U.S. dollars to retail at 1.25 dollars and 1.09 dollars respectively in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
In the capital Nairobi and its environs, a spot check at various gas stations on Monday showed that the commodity was in high supply.
Motorists purchase fuel at a Shell petrol station in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, April 11, 2022. (Photo by Fred Mutune/Xinhua)
The long queues of motorists and motorbike riders waiting to get fuel were no longer there.
"You can fuel any amount you want. We no longer ration because we have more than enough," Joseph, a petrol attendant at Tosha station in Kitengela on the outskirts of Nairobi, said on Monday.
Daniel Kiptoo, the director-general of Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said fuel supply had been restored across the country thus the market should operate at the optimum.
Monica Juma, the acting cabinet secretary, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, has blamed the shortage on oil marketing companies hoarding the product awaiting mid-month price reviews to cash in.
"The players were additionally diverting cargo earmarked for local use for export into the region to further enhance their abnormal profits," she said, as she assured the country the situation will normalize.
Following an increase in fuel prices by 0.09 dollars, the cost of most items has gone up in Kenya by up to 20 percent, raising inflationary pressure.
Kenyans now have to pay more to travel, for food and other basic items as manufacturers pass the costs to consumers.
The move is expected to push up the east African nation's inflation to a new high from 5.6 percent in March, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. ■
