Energy crisis in Mutomo

By Isaac Kyalo

Mutomo is one of the fastest growing towns in Kitui County. The town which lies in the southern part of the county however, may run itself to a halt if energy trends are anything to go by. Despite the busy motoring around, it only has two petrol stations. These stations however face stiff competition from small petrol vendors that populate the town. Fuel is sold in small plastic bottles and many motorists queue in shops to get the scarce commodity.

Kimanchi Fill was opened two years ago.  The proprietor admits that there is stiff competition from shop petrol vendors. This has seen his business reduce drastically. As the town grows and the demand to have well established gas stations, the inverse happening in Mutomo. The only place one can refuel is Kitui town which is 80 km away. The road network is poor making Mutomo only ideal to have a vibrant petrol sector to save local motorists trauma of having to go to Kitui when their tanks run dry.

Fuel pumps in Mutomo (Photo:Sam Gitonga/MCV)

The motorcycle riders famously called bodabodahave contributed to the high fuel demand in the town. This has also seen unregulated fuel prices in the area. Shops sell theirs at a higher price but attract more customers since they pack theirs in bottles and appear to be more than that of petrol station. They also run out of fuel rarely. When the Energy Regulatory Commission announces new fuel prices every second week of the month, it is like playing a guitar to a goat and expecting a dance from it in Mutomo. The setting of fuel prices has solely remained as a preserve of oil merchants. Currently, the prices are higher by up to five shillings above the set ERC standards.