As of December 18, 2024, the average price of a litre of petrol within Kampala city was UGX 4,800, with some fuel stations selling at as low as UGX 4,700, while that of diesel was Shs 4,600. The price range is also true in other major towns across the country.
The UNOC Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Tony Otoa, said that the new pump prices reflect “close to UGX 1,000 reduction since UNOC started importing petroleum products for Uganda.”
The fall in fuel prices is a surprise to the pessimists who had predicted hard times for Uganda when Parliament in May 2024 passed the Excise Duty Amendment Bill, 2024, which embodied an increase in the excise duty on petrol from UGX 1,450 to UGX 1,550 per liter and on diesel from UGX 1,130 to UGX 1,230 per liter. This increase took effect on July 1, 2024.
Critics argued that fuel prices on the continent were on the rise, giving an example of Nigeria, where prices have skyrocketed due to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC) decision to end its exclusive agreement with Dangote Refinery and exit a costly subsidy program, resulting in an 87.88% increase in the price of petrol.
However, President Yoweri Museveni, in November 2023, while explaining to Ugandans the government’s decision to eliminate middlemen by making UNOC the country’s sole importer of petroleum products, elaborated that fuel prices would go down since the country had contracted bulk and refinery suppliers to be able to import fuel at lower prices.
The President also lashed out at the media backlash fueled by those against the idea, noting that “the internal parasites who have been cheating their country have launched a social media and mainstream media campaign against our liberation-resistance plan against okuseerwa (being overcharged), assisted by the ever pro-parasite paper known as Monitor.”
Despite criticism and protest from opposition MPs, Parliament passed into law the Petroleum Supply Amendment Bill 2023, giving UNOC powers to monopolize the supply of all petroleum products in Uganda.
In December 2023, UNOC assumed full responsibility for the importation of petroleum products following President Museveni’s signing of the Petroleum Supply (Amendment) Act, 2023, received a license from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority of Kenya in March 2024, and the first petroleum shipment in July.
In no time, Ugandans are already enjoying the benefits of the deal with fuel prices, which were soaring above UGX 5000 a few months back, dropping below UGX 4800, proving the critics wrong and Museveni and the NRM government right.
The development not only defies critics but also reinforces President Museveni’s assertion that deliberate and calculated policies under the NRM government are the drivers of Uganda’s economic progress.
