Uganda: Fuel Crisis is Big Lesson for Us

Within hours of violence erupting in Kenya following the country’s disputed polls, an unprecedented shortage of fuel and subsequently the rise in fuel prices rocked the country.

By yesterday, the queues at fuel stations had more or less disappeared, not because supplies had been restored but because many motorists had exhausted their reserves running from one station to another where they were told they could get a few drops.

A litre of petrol had shot up to as high as Shs10, 000 especially on the black market. The response by government, promising that the country still has reserves and was working on alternative routes to bring in fuel came too late to prevent speculators from taking advantage of the situation.

The Minister for Energy, Mr Daudi Migereko, has told the nation that alternatives are being worked out.

His comments are coming too late and are likely not to have any impact on mitigating the prices that have already shot through the roof. It is unfortunate that country that knows it has no open access to the sea could allow itself to run without official reserves only relying on a agreement with local oil dealers to reserve some stocks that can sustain the country for a few months in an emergency.

It is exactly this arrangement that initially forced dealers to hold onto their limited stocks, a decision that forced fuel stations to immediately hike prices, start rationing fuel to a level where now, even if the fuel became available, it will be difficult to bring prices down again to the previous rates.

The Monitor (Kampala)