By Joshua Niyonshima, Media Management
Uganda Revenue Authority recently held an engagement with the leaders of West Nile to identify the major cause of the continued fuel smuggling in the region and how to overcome it.
The meeting which was also attended by Police and UPDF follows a public outcry on the large sums of uncustomed fuel in the region.
In his remarks, Commissioner Customs Abel Kagumire alluded to the drop-in petroleum products revenue caused by smuggling. He disclosed that the paying fuel types are gas oil, motor spirit, and kerosene taxed at rates of Shs 1,130, Shs 1,450, and Shs 200 per liter respectively.
Statistics obtained from the Ministry of Energy indicate that there has been a 10% (20 million liters) decline in the monthly consumption of fuel, which has negatively affected the importation volumes of fuel, translating into a decline in fuel revenue.
“This is because of the fuel price volatility that created a contractionary demand among fuel dealers. As a result, we registered a deficit of UGX 69.9 billion in petroleum duty for the period July to December of FY 2022/23,” noted Abel.
Dr. Alice Akello the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) Arua City revealed that street fuel vending has become a crisis beyond URA. “Fuel vending has lured children from school and also poses a risk of the ADF rebels disguising as fuel venders which can become a security issue,” she explained.
Additionally, DRC being home to the Allied Democratic Force rebels, this could be used as a loophole to promote insecurity in Uganda.
The stakeholders therefore agreed to initiate joint enforcement operations in the region targeting the illegal sale of fuel by inspecting the streets while using intelligence from URA, Police and UPDF.
The culprits will be lined up for prosecution whereas URA shall facilitate education and engagement of all stakeholders.
URA launched an initiative in 2021 dubbed 3Es; Education and Engagement before Enforcement. Last week, an engagement was held with South Sudan and a bilateral agreement was signed between the two commissioners of Customs after resolving 9 key focus areas among which is round-tripping of fuel. The next bilateral meeting is scheduled for February.
Furthermore, the Petroleum Act of 1956/57 does not allow the sale of fuel in Jerrycans. This provides the basis for ironing out the fuel illegality in West Nile.
