Boy buys paraffin for his father’s car

It is about time we came up with different names for different things, instead of having one word to mean different things. That is what one Umaru, a resident of Keti falawo zone in Kawempe thought when he nearly ruined his car when his son poured paraffin into the tank instead of petrol. Umaru’s car had run out of fuel, and so he sent his young son across the road to the nearby fuel station to buy amafuta. The boy was on his way before he heard the last of the message, and when asked by the pump attendant what he wanted, he insisted that he had been sent for amafuta and not petrol. When the boy returned, Umaru told him to pour it into the tank but went to check whether he was doing the right thing. When asked about what he had bought, the boy confidently replied that he had bought amafuta as he had been told. It was only then, that Umaru realised that the boy had bought paraffin. Both petrol and paraffin are called amafuta in Luganda. He had to rush to the garage to drain out the paraffin immediately. ends