The Government of Uganda has called for patience from consumers in regard to reduction of fuel prices since government took over as the sole importer and supplier of petroleum products.
State Minister for Energy Okaasai Opolot said impact will be felt after about three months.
“Give it three months and the impact will be realized across the board,” Opolot is quoted as saying.
This comes as fuel prices remain above Shs5,000 despite earlier promises that they would reduce after the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) became the sole importer of the oil products.
But Minister Opolot said many of the big operators had stocked fuel before government took over the role. He explained that after the stocks have been exhausted in about three months, pump prices will almost be uniform or have small variances.
“Right now, companies are still clearing the old stock and we have got to accept this lapse so that people don’t lose money they invested,” he said.
The minister also noted that it was difficult to point at a particular price that government would desire fuel to be sold at going forward, noting that prices routinely change because of international fundamentals, but indicated that since government had removed middlemen, it was easier to price fuel favorably.
“If we are supplying all oil marketing companies, it means we are supplying uniform products. I want to remove the notion that small companies are selling poor-quality products. This will create competition between big and small companies and eventually, the price will come down,” he said.
