Govt moves to stabilise fuel supply, boost mineral processing — Nankabirwa

KAMPALA - Government has secured enough fuel stocks to last more than 50 days as it moves to stabilise supply and shield the country from regional disruptions, Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa has said.

Nankabirwa said Uganda had put in place emergency supply arrangements after some oil marketing companies diverted fuel meant for Uganda to neighbouring Kenya.

“As I speak now, we have vessels arriving and more volumes coming through Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Tanga. With these shipments, we will have stock to take us for more than 50 days, close to two months,” she said.

She was speaking during the National Performance Review Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Thursday.

The three-day high-level government forum, convened by the Office of the Prime Minister, is assessing progress on Uganda’s development agenda and has brought together senior government officials, development partners, civil society representatives, academia and private sector leaders.

While responding to the 2025 Local Government Management of Service Delivery Performance Assessment on the energy and extractives sector, Nankabirwa warned oil firms against diverting fuel allocated to Uganda, saying the practice had contributed to recent supply pressures and price increases.

She attributed rising pump prices partly to global market shocks linked to conflict in the Middle East, which has pushed up crude oil prices in recent weeks.

Uganda has seen fuel prices rise by as much as sh500 in the past two weeks.
Nankabirwa said Uganda’s fuel import system had improved after government shifted from the previous Kenya-based import arrangement to direct government-to-government procurement through the Uganda National Oil Company.

“We removed the middlemen who made our fuel expensive and unreliable,” she said.
On electricity, the minister said government was working to expand power access in remote tourism and protected areas to attract investment while stepping up efforts to curb vandalism of electricity infrastructure.

She said the ministry was adopting monopole steel structures to replace conventional pylons frequently targeted by vandals.

“We would rather have expensive power than no power at all. The first priority is to ensure supply, then we work on affordability,” she said.

In the mining sector, Nankabirwa said government had strengthened regulation through the Mining and Minerals Act and related regulations, enabling the issuance of licences to artisanal and small-scale miners.

She said government had also established mineral beneficiation centres in different regions to support value addition and formalisation of artisanal mining.

“We are for the first time seeing small-scale mining licences being issued to artisanal miners,” she said.

The minister added that Uganda had introduced a digital mineral production monitoring system and installed mineral-specific weighbridges to improve tracking of mineral output and reduce under-declaration by mining operators.

On the long-delayed Sukulu Phosphate Project, Nankabirwa said the plant was operating at only 10 per cent capacity due to internal investor challenges, despite government completing supporting infrastructure.

“The Ministry of Energy has done its part by establishing a dedicated substation and power line to the Sukulu phosphate plant,” she said.

She also announced that procurement of contractors for the Kampala Storage Terminal project was in its final stages, with works expected to commence soon after financing and engineering studies were completed last year.

The terminal will store refined petroleum products from Uganda’s planned refinery and forms part of broader efforts to strengthen national fuel reserves.