Motorists in Bomet stranded as filling stations run out of fuel

Bomet County is the latest town to feel the pain of the fuel shortage in the country as motorists failed to access the commodity on Friday.

One of the motorists who were among the hundreds whose vehicles run out of fuel said that they have been waiting for the now precious commodity at a petrol station in the area for hours.

Motorists who are using the busy Bomet-Kisii highway were also affected as the long queues stretched to the highway.

“Tumetegea mafuta hapa kuanzia asubuhi hadi sahii na wanatuambia eti watafungua lakini bado hawajafungua,” one of the motorists said.

Loosely translates to: We have been waiting for the fuel since morning and they have been telling us that they will start serving us but nothing has happened.

Food delivery services riders were also affected by the issue. Thye could not deliver the requested services.

“Mpaka sahii hakuna kazi enye tumefanya, delivery enye tunatembeza haijafika kwa customer juu ya mafuta,” motorist said.

Translates to: Up to now we have not done any job, the delivery which we are acting on is yet to reach customers due to lack of fuel.

The same was reported in Litein town, Kericho county.

This comes as the Independent petroleum dealers warned of a worsening shortage of products, which has started to be felt in the capital Nairobi and its surroundings.

The Kenya Independent Petroleum Distributors Association (KIPEDA) and the Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya (POAK) recently said small players have run out of product in parts of Nairobi and surrounding counties of Nakuru, Kiambu, Kajiado and Machakos.

Other parts of the country hit include the Western Kenya region, Eastern, North Eastern, and parts of Mount Kenya, a problem that started three weeks ago.