Fuel prices have been rising sharply since early last year but since the beginning of this month, they have risen more sharply by up to 1,300 shillings per litre. In some places around Kampala, prices went up to 5,700 shillings for petrol and 4,400 for diesel per litre by Saturday.
The recent
spiraling in fuel prices in Uganda has been attributed to the need to ration
the available fuel stocks rather than profiteering.
Fuel prices
have been rising sharply since early last year but since the beginning of this
month, they have risen more sharply by up to 1,300 shillings per litre. In some places around Kampala, prices went up
to 5,700 shillings for petrol and 4,400 for diesel per litre by Saturday.
This was attributed to a slowdown in supply as truck drivers at the Malaba and
Busia border points parked their trucks protesting new Covid-19 testing
guidelines. They were reversed last week and by Wednesday, testing on the
drivers was being done at no cost.
In a government statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Energy said the
demand for fuel had been increasing even before the strike by truckers.
This,
according to the statement, was due to the fact that the economy was recovering
and the rise in activities, meant more demand for petroleum products.
On Saturday,
there was also a hitch at Malaba border-post when the cargo scanners broke
down, but by Sunday morning, the system had been restored, according to Uganda
Revenue Authority.
Malaba Cargo
Scanner is up and running after a technical incidence yesterday that caused
public concern. A mobile scanner was temporarily deployed as the Malaba
team, worked tirelessly to bring the stationed scanner online into operation,”
said Ibrahim Bbosa, the URA Head of Public and Corporate Affairs.
By Saturday
evening, URA says they had cleared almost 200 trucks, 82 of them at Busia
alone.
Following the near-halt in deliveries, fuel stations started running dry, hence
the high prices.
Fred Nairongo, the station manager at TotalEnergies Nakulabye says he is not
sure when they will receive their next deliveries, adding that he expects to
run out of stock later on Sunday.
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He hopes however that by the end of this week the situation will improve if the
trucks arrive within the week.
However, his
counterpart, Denis Acuka, the Manager at Rubis Nakulabye says the scarcity is
caused by many factors, some of which may not be in the powers of Uganda as a
country to solve. He says that
even before the strike, supply from Kenya was slow because of a slowdown in the
international supply chain, adding that this strike is just one of the reasons.
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Vivo Energy
Uganda spokesperson, Val Oketcho referred all questions to the Ministry of Energy
and Mineral Development, while officials at the ministry either refused to
comment or take calls.
Asked about
the rationale behind increasing the price when there is a scarcity, both
station managers said it was aimed at controlling the rush for the products.
Denis Acuka
of Rubis says the directive came from their head office to increase the prices
when the daily demand went up from 3,000 to 4,000 litres, so as to discourage
demand and dispense the stock in smaller volumes per day.
This,
according to him was aimed at ensuring the stations do not run dry.
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Nairongo says
that instead of his sales decline, they doubled in the last few days because,
according to him, his colleagues at other stations where stocks are depleted,
refer customers to his station.
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However, there are some stations that are finding it hard to get customers
because of the high prices, and these are mainly the smaller dealers, who had
previously kept their products cheaper than that at the major dealers.
At AS Oil at
Kawempe, an attendant said there are few customers coming because of the high
prices, yet the station cannot reduce it because the products were delivered at
a high cost.
These are
companies that buy their petroleum products from other marketers in Kenya and
many times hire transport companies to deliver them.
Many of them
were by Sunday quoting higher prices than those quoted by the bigger
dealers.
