A crowd of fuel distributors railed against Petroleum Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau as he attempted to address them at the Industrial Area fuel depot in Nairobi.
Petroleum distributors went on strike on Monday to protest introduction of the 16 percent increment tax on the product
Mr Kamau arrived at the depot on Wednesday to quell the ongoing protest.
The PS mistakenly said that the drivers had blocked roads to prevent the fuel from being distributed to petrol stations.
The crowd got angry and booed him, forcing him to leave.
“Solidarity!” Nicholas Mbugua, the secretary-general of the Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers Union shouted as the meeting turned chaotic. “Aende!” (let him go!) the crowd replied.
Representatives from the Matatu Transport Vehicle Association (MTVA) were also present during the meeting.
“We have to stand with you. We are in this together. We have to stand together until Wanjiku’s cry is heard,” Benson Mwenda, the chairman of MTVA, said.
There has been a shortage of the commodity in Nairobi and some neighbouring counties since the drivers downed their tools.
Some stations in Nairobi and Thika ran out of petrol early Wednesday and ere only selling diesel fuel.