Petrol prices in Kampala have fallen from around sh5,000 per litre to sh2,500. This follows importation of about 500,000 litres of fuel, most of it petrol by Shell Uganda.
A fuel crisis has loomed in Uganda and other neighbouring countries since chaos broke out in Kenya after the disputed presidential elections. Petrol supplies have been hardest hit but diesel and kerosene have also been in short supply in some parts of Uganda, which needs over 10 million litres of diesel and over three million litres of petrol per week.
Kobil, another petroleum firm, also announced yesterday the arrival of about 300,000 litres of fuel, half of it petrol.
Shell Uganda spokesperson Halima Besisira said more fuel would come in over the next few days. Besisira cautioned the public against panicking because there would soon be enough supply. But city motorists spent yesterday afternoon struggling in long queues at the various Shell refueling stations.
Shell stations in Bugolobi, Malindi Banda and City Square were among the company’s outlets that were dispensing petrol at sh2,500 per litre and diesel at sh2,300.
But in Kisenyi, an inner city suburb, motorists who could not wait for long hours in the Shell queues were still paying heavily for each litre.
Delta on Kafumbe Mukasa Road had petrol at sh5,000 and diesel at sh2,800. Hass in Kisenyi sold petrol at sh4,000 and diesel at sh2,500. Petro-Feast in Kisenyi had petrol at sh4,700 and diesel at sh2,800.
While most stations sampled had kerosene at sh1,850, Hass Kisenyi, located deep in the high density low-income area where people still use candles, said it had run out of the fuel. Before the crisis, petrol was about sh2,400, diesel sh2,200 and kerosene sh1,660.
Kobil Uganda managing director Daniel Seagull said for the time being, the situation was under control. In Mbarara and Isingiro districts, smugglers were in brisk business, smuggling petrol from Bukoba in northern Tanzania and sell it exorbitantly in Uganda.
The fuel in Tanzania costs between sh3,500 a litre, while it was being sold at sh4,000 in Isingiro and sh10,000 a litre in Mbarara.
Meanwhile, some bus operations to Nairobi that were halted two weeks ago due to the violence in Kenya have resumed.
Akamba Bus Services, Gateway, Busscar and Kampala Coaches resumed operations, while Falcon, Scandinavian and Regional are yet to call off their suspension.
“We started work on January 5 but on a small scale. We shall, however, not operate tomorrow (today) until Wednesday when we shall operate to Nairobi but with Police escorts from Busia,†said David Njenga, the Akamba bus manager.
He said due to the fuel scarcity, fares to Nairobi had increased to sh40,000.
More fuel, prices go down
