Queuing for fuel shows systemic failure

Motorists wait in a queue to refuel their vehicles at a filling station in Wellawatte on the outskirts of Colombo on March 16, 2026. [AFP]

Last week, and for the first time in a very long time, I queued for petrol somewhere in Karatina. I found a tier one petrol station that somehow had some fuel that was being rationed like the rare commodity it has become.

The maximum one could fuel was Ksh2,000. The petrol attendant had made a Solomon-like decision to ration the fuel, and he would stick to it come what may.