Kayunga, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Officials from the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) have identified Busoga sub-region as an area with the highest incidence of bad practices in the country’s petroleum sector. This follows a week-long sensitization campaign targeting fuel dealers, motorcyclists, and local government leaders across Busoga and neighboring districts, including Buikwe, Kayunga, and Buvuma.
The UNBS findings reveal that despite awareness of sector policies, there is widespread non-compliance. Issues include unlicensed petrol stations, illegal sale of uncertified fuel, fuel smuggling, misuse of licenses across multiple stations, siphoning fuel from transnational trailers, and refilling petrol stations in developing town councils with compromised fuel.
Peter Kitimbo, the field supervisor for the Fuel Marking and Quality Monitoring Program (MQP), reported that non-compliance in East Uganda stands at 33%, with Busoga accounting for 80% of these bad practices. In contrast, Northern Uganda is the best-performing region with only 7% non-compliance, followed by Central Uganda at 15%, Southern Uganda at 17%, and Western Uganda at 28%.
Kitimbo highlighted that through a partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development, the MQP program aims to educate fuel end-users on detecting quality petroleum products and cracking down on direct fuel dealers. He also pointed out that in Naluwerere parish, Bugiri municipality, a group engages in fuel adulteration, selling the adulterated fuel to various retail dealers in the sub-region. This practice not only undermines fuel quality but also results in the improper disposal of petroleum residues, contaminating local water sources.
Kitimbo has called for joint efforts from law enforcement agencies and local governments to improve compliance in the sub-region. However, Bugiri District LCV Chairperson Kassajja Mulumba claims that efforts to enforce compliance in Naluwerere are hindered by “orders from above,” leaving authorities powerless to address the issue. Mulumba also accuses political hopefuls of shielding smugglers to gain political advantage.
He describes Naluwerere as an area akin to an “imaginary state of Iraq,” where proximity to the Uganda-Kenya border facilitates access to illicit materials such as expired lubricants and used oil, which are used in the adulteration of certified petroleum products.
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