Kenya crisis causes regional fuel shortages

By Francis Kwera

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Political violence in Kenya is choking off supplies of fuel and petroleum products to neighboring countries such as Uganda and Burundi and is likely to hit a swathe of others from eastern Congo to south Sudan.

They all get fuel from Kenyan ports, where supply lines have been interrupted by the chaos that has followed the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.

In Uganda's capital Kampala on Wednesday, many cars stood abandoned at the roadside by their owners as petrol pumps ran dry.

Some residents and businesses bought what they could get and then hoarded it, fearing more disruption to come.

"Though there has been a general scarcity of petrol, the Kenya crisis has worsened it," Ugandan Energy Minister Daudi Migereko told Reuters.

"A lot of fuel destined for Kampala is stuck in Mombasa and for now there is nothing to be done," he said, referring to Kenya's main seaport."

In neighboring Burundi, a petroleum importer said the landlocked country was also reeling from the Kenyan unrest.

"Burundi is feeling the effect, there is already a jet fuel shortage at Bujumbura international airport," said Joan Njoroge, acting general manager of South Africa's Engen Petroleum.

Engen imports about 70 percent of the fuel in the country and also supplies UN peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, Njoroge said.

"The risk won't be only oil prices going up, but there will be oil shortage, which is very dangerous for Burundi," she told Reuters, referring to a possible economic crisis.

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete spoke to Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga to see what the East African Community (EAC) could do to help.

"The efforts have not yet borne fruit but they are continuing," said a statement by Museveni, the current EAC head. The five-nation economic bloc also includes Rwanda and Burundi.

In Kampala, there were harsh words from the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA), which accused the authorities of ignoring repeated warnings to maintain the nation's reserves.

"Our advice had not been heeded, and now we have the entire transport sector frozen," said UMA spokesman Henry Obonyo.

The shortages came at the worst time for Uganda, where supplies were already depleted after many people followed their usual Christmas tradition and traveled long distances upcountry to visit relatives.