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A fresh oil revelation from Uganda has suddenly put Kenya’s petroleum trade under intense scrutiny, with President Yoweri Museveni making claims that could reopen questions about how fuel moved through the region and who benefited from the arrangement. Read Full Article Here
Museveni has said Uganda was purchasing petroleum products through middlemen based in Kenya, describing the arrangement as unnecessarily expensive. He revealed that a Kenyan senator alerted him to the issue, prompting him to question Uganda’s procurement system and push for a different approach.
According to figures presented by Museveni and Uganda’s Energy Minister, Uganda had been paying a premium of $118 per metric tonne for diesel, compared with $83 under the newer arrangement involving Uganda National Oil Company and Vitol.
The difference was also reported in other products. The premium on petrol reportedly fell from $97.50 to $61.50 per tonne, while aviation fuel dropped from $114.25 to $79.25. Museveni said the figures convinced him that the previous system had to end.
Uganda subsequently expanded the role of its state-owned oil company, UNOC, in directly importing petroleum products. The country still uses Kenyan infrastructure, including the Port of Mombasa and the Kenya Pipeline network, for part of its supply chain.
The revelation is likely to attract renewed attention because Kenya’s own Government-to-Government fuel arrangement was introduced in 2023 with the stated aim of improving supply security and changing the structure of petroleum procurement.
Museveni has not publicly identified the Kenyan senator who raised the issue with him, leaving that part of the story unanswered.
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