Sam Banda Jnr, AfricaNews reporter in Blantyre, Malawi
Malawians continue to battle various challenges with top of it being persistent fuel shortages and many do not have an idea as to when they will have enough fuel back in the filling stations yet government has remained quiet. Life is no longer the same for a country which some years back never experienced the fiasco of seeing people queuing for fuel in filling stations.
Today men and women in the southern African country which has a population of over 13 million people have grounded their vehicles not because the vehicles have problems but because they have no fuel in the tanks.
People in the country are sleeping in filling stations simply to get hold of the commodity which is now scarce.
President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government has made itself history in the fuel game and many Malawians are questioning this whole hullabaloo as to why there is fuel shortage in the country?
There is no progress, people can’t work because they are spending their time in filling stations and companies can’t produce their products because of inadequate fuel, hospitals have not been spared especially those in rural areas, they have no drugs and lives of people are at stake because of fuel shortage.
Malawians demonstrated on July 20 where a petition was presented to president Mutharika. The demonstrations showed its ugly face when 20 people were killed by the police.
Civil Society organisations organized the demonstrations and in their petition, one of the things which they wanted the president to dwell on was the fuel shortage.
But though the president came out at some point, nothing fruitful has come out and instead the fuel problem continues to persist forcing some Malawians to go to neighbouring countries like Zambia and Mozambique in search of the commodity.
Minibuses in the country plying their trade in both townships and cities are hiking fees everyday with nothing but the problem of fuel shortage. Commodities’ prices are going up every day with the same reason of fuel.
Transportation has become a problem as some minibuses and buses commuting in cities are difficult to get simply because they have been grounded.
Recently some people were battling to get into minibuses to get home after knocking off from work, it was getting dark and everyone wanted to get home in time and probably this was the last minibus.
Every Jim and jack is affected with this fuel shortage in the country and even thieves have found time to steal in people’s houses since some are leaving their homes to sleep in filling stations. Corruption is cropping in when buying fuel as some are bribing fuel attendants to get fuel in time and without standing on the queue.
Companies are reducing their production and so the end result is retrenchments to keep up with business. With the already high unemployment rate in the country, this is not healthy.
With pathetic salaries many Malawians receive, they have to dig deeper for transport as minibuses continue to use different charges each day.
The buses commuting between the major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe are charging in the range of K1400 K1500, K1550 and K1600 which is close to 15 to 20 US dollar.
A snap survey in the country’s major cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe in some of the filling stations recently found long queues of vehicles waiting for fuel which was yet to come.
In other filling stations, the fuel had just come and there were long queues while some people were battling with fuel attendants to get hold of the commodity in jerrycanes.
Jerrycanes which have in the past been rendered useless and have only been used for storing water with water problems on the high are now selling like hotcakes.
Random interviews in some of the filling stations in Blantyre and Lilongwe found that some people had slept there waiting to get fuel which only came during the day.
“It’s a pity and the government is doing nothing. We need to know when this fuel shortage will end. Imagine I came here yesterday and I am still here today. My car is yet to reach the pump. I have had to excuse myself at work,” said Joseph Chikusa at a filling station in the capital city, Lilongwe.
At another filling station, a woman who is desperate to get fuel as his vehicles fuel is almost finished says: “This is not healthy surely, in the afternoon I sent someone to buy me fuel but he failed and I just decided to come on my own. It’s difficult really and this time I was supposed to be home preparing food for the family but I have no choice,” says Esme Nyangulu.
Reports in the country show that the fuel shortage will continue until early next year and Malawians have to continue living a life of sleeping in filling stations.
Malawians continue to battle various challenges with top of it being persistent fuel shortages and many do not have an idea as to when they will have enough fuel back in the filling stations yet government has remained quiet. Life is no longer the same for a country which some years back never experienced the fiasco of seeing people queuing for fuel in filling stations.
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