KAMPALA CITY - The Ugandan government, through it's energy ministry, has said the price of petrol in the country should not exceed sh5,000 per litre.
"The cases of scarcity in districts such as Hoima will be addressed shortly with the ongoing replenishment of stocks," energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa said on Friday, January 14.
This is after reports emerged that a litre of petrol was selling at up to sh10,000, up from sh4,590, while that of diesel shot up as high as sh8,000 in Hoima city.
However, in Kampala, a litre of petrol was selling between sh4,700 and sh5,500.
Nankabirwa noted that Uganda is a net importer of petroleum products in a liberalized downstream petroleum market with an average current daily consumption of 6.5 million litres.
Uganda loads its products through the terminals located in Eldoret, Kisumu, Nairobi and Mombasa and supply is majorly through road transport.
The minister said that supply was normal, with trucks being cleared as usual and drivers were allowed to present negative coronavirus results from Kenya until January 1, 2022, when a directive was issued requiring all truck drivers to undergo testing at Malaba and Busia entry points.
"This resulted in a buildup of a queue of trucks as none were entering the country," Nankabirwa said in a letter.
She explained that following the failure to maintain replenishment of stocks and where trucks had spent 10 days in the queue, the turnaround time was affected and reduced stocks for petroleum products in the country.
"As of January 12, 2022, the ministry of health commenced free COVID-19 testing at the Busia and Malaba borders, and the trucks started moving and reduced stocks movement has started improving," she said.
The minister also noted that with the full reopening of economic activities, there has been an increase in uptake of petroleum products which saw a spike in consumption in the country that affected the 10-day stock levels.
"The very low replenishment based on the truck delays at the borders resulted in some stock out of petrol at some outlets," she stated.
Nankabirwa also said that Uganda's oil market companies have most of their trucks in the traffic between the Kenyan loading points and the borders and once cleared in a few days, supply and prices will return to normal.
"And there is no need for the public to panic," Nankabirwa added.
She urged speculators who are hoarding petroleum products and leading to an unnecessary spike in fuel prices to desist from this bad practice.
"The government (security and other authorities) is doing everything possible to prioritize the handling of petroleum products at the borders to ensure buildup in stock levels in the country," she said.
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