Correspondence by Jacquiline Emodek, Customs Planning.
The URA has met fuel dealers and local leaders in Arua to address the vice of fuel smuggling that is on the rise in the West Nile region.
The engagement comes after an observation that smuggled fuel is openly sold in jerrycans along the Vurra–Arua–Koboko-Oraba Road. The road, a 92Km affair, starts at Vurra at the common border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) leading up to Arua and other districts in Uganda.
According to business intelligence, the culprits sell the smuggled fuel at UGX. 4000 which is cheaper than the prices at the fuel stations by UGX 1000 and so the public opts to buy from them.
Fuel dealers also shared that the smugglers have become bold enough to sell the fuel at the premises of their fuel stations thereby diverting their potential clients.
Speaking to the dealers, commissioner customs, Abel Kagumire explained that the vice started when URA halted transit of fuel through Oraba at the border of Uganda and South Sudan.
The move made some economic saboteurs resort to illegal means where they buy fuel from Aru in Democratic Republic of Congo then transport it to Uganda through Odramacaku and Lia where it then finds its way into Arua.
He added that the issue has become a national problem noting the need to bring Democratic Republic of Congo on board to fight it. He further appealed to government agencies in the district to join hands and work with URA during enforcement activities.
“When my team started operating alone, our offices were burnt in Koboko. We need to approach enforcement as a team of government machinery so that things do not get volatile,” Kagumire said.
Edera Elias, a fuel station operator asked URA to address feedback from stakeholder engagements with sustainable actions that will address their plight.
“We need to see action because lack of it leads to loss of trust. We expect these culprits to be arrested and arraigned in court because instead of broadening our tax base they have hijacked domestic taxes and frustrated us,” he said.
In a subsequent meeting with the Arua leadership and security agencies, Alice Akello Opio, the Resident City Commissioner for Arua city agreed to joint enforcement which they termed “One war, many fronts.”
The leaders also proposed a ban on the trailers from stopping on the way because they encourage siphoning of fuel.
