Uganda Members of Parliament have blamed fuel dealers of hoarding fuel, which has kept the pump prices high despite easing the border standoff.
This is the third continuous week since fuel prices are rising due to the supply shortage occasioned by the fuel truck driver’s strike at the Malaba barrier.
One litre of petrol is still retailing at a standard of Ush5,000 ($1.43), up from Ush4,500 ($1.28) before the statement.
An investigation by the parliament Committee is going on Tourism, Trade and Industry on fuel crisis in the country; however, found that after the border crisis, many fuel trucks entered the country in January as compared to December 2021.
According to the Committees chairperson, ‘Mwine Mpaka’, the strike going on the border impacted the flow of cargo. However, it is not clear how many trucks are involved in the strike while transporting fuel.
According to the URA commissioner for enforcement, the taxman has cleared more fuel trucks in January than in December between December 1 and December 31, 2021; URA cleared 122 fuel trucks per day on average.
By January 22, 2022, the day of the committee management stay, URA had cleared on average of 22 fuel trucks cleared per day in December and several months before the problem.
As per the sources, Vivo Energy imported 31 million litres, while Total bought 22 million.
Many people import a significant amount of the fuel, said Mr Mpaka. As per the statistics, it is not clear whether the fuel is coming in the country or not, but some companies who import fuel and fuel stations are taking advantage of the current situation to collect and sell the fuel costly.
They also made some efforts to reach “Valery Okecho”, but the efforts were fruitless as he did not answer our calls.
Ivan Muzahuzi, who is the corporate communication officer, declined to comment on the proceedings in Parliament.
