Petrol stations operating in Kisumu have continued to register lower pump sales as an unprecedented mushrooming of petrol stations continue to be witnessed.

The stretch between A hero and Ojolla which are about 20 kilometers apart has about 15 petrol stations that are coming up pretty first, a number which is triple of the petrol station that existed two years ago.

One employee of petrol station in Ahero, which started operation three years ago, said in the recent past that the station used to sell an average of 400,000 liters of petrol in a month a number that has now reduced by a half

 "These days we can hardly do 200,000 liters a month, and yet we have over ten petrol stations whose constructions are still ongoing. That simply mean that we will get reduced sales in the coming months," said Francis Matete.

Last month, Kisumu County Government received a green-light to license petroleum business making it the first regional government to have such a mandate.

Speaking to journalists in Kisumu last month after signing a memorandum of understanding with Kisumu County Government, the Energy Regulation Commission (ERC) Director General Joe Ng'ang'a, said that, it was essential for the county governments to be given licensing mandate as part of decentralization process of the Commission's roles.

While there have been reports of fuel adulteration, the rate at which new petrol stations are coming up is an additional fear given the dwindling sales of fuel.

Matete who has been doing petroleum business for ten years said that adulteration process (where petroleum dealers add kerosene to the petrol or diesel and conveniently reduce the pump price) is normally occasioned by cut-throat competition brought about by dwindling sales.

"Kenyan motorists, particularly the ones driving public service vehicles will go to the petrol stations where the pump price is lower to save on what they have been spending, but this has the long term effect of damaging engines of the vehicles," said Matete.

Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma, however, says that with the county's new role, it will do all it can to regulate petroleum business within the county.

"We will regulate them and ensure that they work according to the rules and standards expected of them to operate within," said Ranguma.