Energy minister Ruth Nankabirwa has said the public should not get into a panic about the latest rising fuel prices in the country.

“There is no need for the public to panic. The Kenyan loading points and the borders have cleared, so supply and prices will return to normal,” she told New Vision on Thursday.

Nankabirwa dismissed media reports that Uganda’s oil reserves in Jinja district are empty. The reserve tank's capacity is 30 million litres.

“It is a poem that our reserves are empty. We consume 6.5 million litres of fuel a day and if we are consuming these litres, how many days will the reserves take us because their capacity is 30 million litres?” she said, adding that they are constructing more oil tanks to reserve oil.

“There is a tank of 70 million litres which is almost completed in a place beyond Kawuku in Wakiso district. We are going to construct a storage terminal in Mpigi to receive the finished product from the refinery in Hoima, but we can’t rely on tanks alone.

"Do you know that between 800 and 900 trucks are cleared a day at the Malaba border? This is because there is free movement of goods and services,” said the minister.

Nankabirwa said Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) is managing the tanks on behalf of the government and keeps selling fuel.

“Because of the free movement of petroleum and other goods, you will not be in business to keep fuel which you are not using.  UNOC has raised sh1.7b (in selling fuel) for the government. So, the most important thing is to make sure that we continue with good relations with our neighbours so that borders are not closed."

The energy minister also directed that 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," she said.

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, petitioned the Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, to convene a special sitting to discuss the escalating fuel prices.

In a letter dated January 19, 2022, Mpuuga explains to the Speaker that there is public pressure for the MPs to convene and discuss solutions to the problem which could result in an economic and security crisis. The Speaker had announced that Parliament plenary sittings would resume on February 27, 2022.

As of Friday, January 14, a litre of petrol was selling at sh10, 000, up from sh4, 590, while that of diesel at sh8, 000 in Hoima city.

However, in Kampala and surrounding areas, a litre of petrol is selling between sh4, 700 and sh5, 500, and many fuel pumps are still dry.

On Wednesday, January 19, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said that Cabinet decided that with the measures taken to ease the flow of fuel tankers across Uganda's borders, "it is now not necessary for any company to hike the price above sh5,000".

"Ugandans should boycott fuel stations that keep the prices high," she tweeted.