Petrol users wait in vain at filling stations
If the situation on the ground is anything to go by, the petrol situation is far from stabilising any sooner as dry pumps resurfaced from late last week, making motorists endure long queues.
The Nation spot-checks in Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu as well as other urban centres yesterday established that scores of service stations did not have petrol from Friday, resulting in fuel queues building up.
In Blantyre, motorists yesterday formed long queues at several service stations in the hope that the products would be delivered. However, by midday it dawned on them that none of the major suppliers, notably TotalEnergies Marketing Malawi Limited and Puma Energy Limited was set to deliver petrol.
In Lilongwe, motorists flocked to BestOil in Area 49 to refuel because in most service stations long queues built up, but with no hope of deliveries. On the other hand, in Mzuzu most of the service stations were also dry.

to leave Tanga. | Nation
Speaking in an interview yesterday at Crossroads Puma Service Station located opposite the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Sports Complex, minibus driver Emmanuel Chimtengo of Manyowe Township in Blantyre, said he ran out of petrol on Friday and was searching for the commodity but to no avail.
He lamented that the decision by Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) to stop issuing the fuel delivery schedule in the past week was also worsening matters.
Said Chimtengo: “I bought fuel on the parallel market at K7 000 per litre to come here but we have been told that fuel will not come today.
“However, I will continue waiting on the line in the hope that this filling station will receive fuel.”
In a separate interview, Petroleum Retailers Association of Malawi chairperson Happy Jere said there was a decline in volumes of fuel that they have been receiving in the past week.
“We had an improvement over a week ago, but now we are back to low volumes,” he said.
The resurfacing of the dry pumps, especially for petrol, comes as transporters engaged by National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) have reportedly been hauling fuel from Tanga Port in Tanzania which Malawi procured using Kenya’s existing Government to Government (G2G) arrangement with Abu Dhabi.
Officials said the stocks Malawi procured comprised 22.57 million litres of diesel and 28.28 million litres of petrol.
As of Saturday, 200 fuel tankers carrying G2G fuel from Tanga Port in Tanzania were reported to have arrived in the country through Songwe Border in Karonga.
Transporters Association of Malawi (TAM) spokesperson Frank Banda said yesterday that more than 400 tankers have hauled fuel into the country since January 6 when transportation started.
He said: “The stocks remaining in Tanga are about 19 million litres of diesel and about 11 million litres of petrol because we were prioritising the transportation of petrol due to its high demand.”
When contacted, Mera spokesperson Fitina Khonje said she did not have details on the available stocks.
In a separate interview, Nocma spokesperson Raymond Likambale said the trucks were delayed to leave Tanga Port because the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) system was undergoing an upgrade which took several days.
He said the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) had to seek a waiver from TRA for the fuel tankers to be released on January 22 2024.
Prior to that, MRA requested for a special clearance of the Malawi fuel cargo but TRA was yet to respond.
However, Likambale said the arrival of the 200 tankers is expected to improve the fuel supply situation in the country.
He said: “By mid-week, we should expect the fuel situation to be normal. Additionally, loading of fuel continues at Tanga Port to make sure that fuel is brought to Malawi within the prescribed 30 days.”
The current fuel crisis started in October last year as foreign exchange scarcity resulted in fuel importers failing to pay suppliers.
Mera data shows that Malawi uses 1.05 million litres each of diesel and petrol per day, which means the country spends $600 million (about K1 trillion) on fuel importation per year.
Additional reporting by JORDAN SIMEON PHIRI and JACOB NANKHONYA, Staff Writers.