Video goes viral of petrol station attendants dancing in joy over an incoming fuel tanker

It was dancing galore recently at a yet to be identified petrol station as pump attendants engaged each other in stunning waist and leg work dance. The attendants were jubilating as a fuel tanker arrived at the station.

From the video shared by Twitter user Kevin Teya, the attendants - dressed in the customary Shell uniform, red polo shirt and gray trousers - could be heard chanting "Yote yawezekana kwa imani (everything is possible with faith)".

The video has surfaced at a time Kenyans are grappling with an unprecedented fuel shortage that is threatening to grind the country's economy to a halt.

Fuel shortage linked to panic buying by Kenyans

The crisis has seen a number of oil marketing stations shut down, tens of travellers and motorists stranded, prices of goods going up across the country and public transport vehicles grounded.

On Monday April 4, Petroleum and Mining Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau blamed the current fuel shortage in the country on panic buyers who are unnecessarily filling up their tanks.

PS Kamau also attributed the fuel shortage to delays in remitting fuel subsidy compensation to oil marketers. In response, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the supplementary budget which allocated Sh34 billion to the fuel stabilization programme.

The allocation from the supplementary budget is expected to offset payments of sh13 billion owed to marketers according to the Ministry of Petroleum while the balance is expected to foot future payments from the subsidy.

Members of the public help push a motorist whose fuel ran out while queueing at a petrol station in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu County, on April 3, 2022. Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group Pulse Live Kenya

The signing of the budget is expected to now pave the way for the end of the fuel shortage by allowing releases from the exchequer to the subsidy.

The government and OMCs have locked horns over the non-payment of the subsidy arrears with the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) directing the marketers to release petroleum supplies even as they await payments from the fund.

EPRA has further threatened sanctions on dealers hoarding petroleum or selling products above the published price.