Ill-Mannered Kenyans Are Their Own Worst Enemies in Ongoing Fuel Crisis

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in early 2020, terrified Americans were buying up toilet paper in such huge quantities that they emptied shelves and shoppers not quick enough were left to clean themselves with bare hands.

Here in Kenya, people stocked up on foodstuff, disinfectants and other consumer items that demand exceeded supply.

Excess demand leads to price hikes

The human drive to collect every last scrap for themselves ballooned the problem far beyond the actual supply chain issues. Excess demand always triggers a shortage and often leads to price hikes.

Well, it seems we never learnt from the COVID-19 mistakes, at least if the current fuel crisis is anything to go by.

To start with, what oil marketing companies have done is criminal and should be dealt with as such.

Hoarding of fuel in a bid to arm-twist the government to increase prices, and even prioritizing exporting fuel overselling it locally, is a matter that should be seriously dealt with by the relevant authorities.

But amid the prevalent ‘shortage’, the main reason a growing number of petrol stations in major towns in the country are constantly without fuel is that nervous motorists and motorcyclists are aggressively stockpiling fuel by filling up their tanks and jerricans, leaving others running on empty.

Uber drivers, who usually drive with the fuel warning light on, and spend an average of KSh 800 at the fuel pump, are now filling their tanks to the brim as a reaction to the supposed crisis. The same goes for motorcyclists, especially boda boda riders.

And what of private motorists who are reporting to work in the morning with full tanks and parking their cars the whole day while other vehicles stall on the roads due to lack of fuel?

Having thousands of cars running around with full tanks has expectedly stretched the petrol stations beyond their limits.

Supply shock

The panic-buying has aggravated the supply shock as the fuel demand climbs, making this a full-blown crisis. For those who drive for a living, the closed pumps and long queues mean days without work.

Unfortunately, fear of a crisis harms the economy far more than any international crisis can. In a well-diversified economy like Kenya, supply is almost never an issue until fear-based selfishness takes over on the consumer end.

Experts say any shortages being experienced currently are not because of lack of supply, but rather panic-buying. Petrol stations are reporting increased sales, two to three times higher than they would normally be.

Even as government officials and industry experts are sounding the alarm about drivers making matters worse by panic buying and hoarding fuel, motorists are rushing to buy whatever they can because they’re seeing news reports about the shortage and the expected crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Another issue that might turn calamitous is how and where Kenyans are storing extra litres of the highly flammable gasoline.

The vapour from just one cup of petrol has the explosive energy of five pounds of dynamite. That’s why we use petrol, to begin with: high energy density makes it an ideal portable fuel. That’s why a gallon of it can push a two-ton vehicle.

Consequently, preliminary measures such as enforcing the ban on selling fuel to customers in unsafe cans and barrels should be taken to avert the foreseeable dangers as well as halt the stock-piling.

The fuel shortage started in the Western and North Rift regions before hitting Nairobi on Friday last week, triggering panic buying that saw dealers hike prices and others limit the amount of fuel being sold per motorist.

Subsidy scheme

The sharp rise in fuel prices in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war has triggered a dearth of commodities like crude oil and crippled the subsidy scheme. The weakened subsidy plan pushed the energy regulator to increase diesel and petrol prices by Sh5 a litre to KSh 115.60 and KSh 134.72 respectively.

Without the subsidy, a litre of super would have increased to KSh 155.11 while diesel would have retailed at KSh 143.16 a litre.

The weakened subsidy plan pushed the energy regulator to increase diesel and petrol prices by KSh5 a litre to Sh115.60 and Sh 134.72 respectively.

The best thing for Kenyan motorists to do right now is taking a deep breath and use some powers of reasoning, basically. We don’t need to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Don't rush to your tanks unless you have to, and do not fill multiple containers. We should also cut back on unnecessary trips, and carpool whenever possible.

If we all work on fueling as needed and not over-consume fuel, we will expedite our return to normal.

Let logic prevail over emotions. In the meantime, just be careful where you throw that cigarette butt.

The writer is Robert Mungai, a regular commentator on social, economic and political affairs.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and do not in any way represent the position of TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke