It is hardly a month since the new financial year started but its bite has not spared any Ugandan yet. The introduction of social media and Mobile Money taxes have had the public up in arms, forcing numerous retractions from the government.
As the dust seems to settle, however, the public transporters have announced new transport prices that will take effect on Monday, July, 23.
The new prices announced the Kampala Operators and Taxi Stages Association (KOTSA) are a result of the new taxes on fuel.
Yasin Ssematimba, the Chairman of KOTSA told Matooke Republic that the new prices will take effect on Monday and will affect all routes coming into Kampala.
“We are pressed on the wall. Everyday prices at the fuel pumps increase. The prices cannot remain the same in the current situation. When fuel prices go down, we shall also go back to the normal prices,” he said.
Ssematimba explained that prices will increase by between Shs1,000 to Shs5,000 depending on the distance.
“We know the economic situation is not easy but we ask our customers to bear with us as this is a short-term solution. We hope the government can make the necessary reforms as soon as possible,” he added.
The government, starting July 1, collects Shs100 from every litre of diesel, petroleum and kerosene at the fuel pumps. This, in turn, pushed fuel prices up across the country.
At the moment, a litre of petroleum is at Shs4, 320 up from Ushs3, 800 while that of diesel is at Shs3, 950.
In similar fashion, the Uganda Buses Owners Association (UBOA) has also announced that there will be an increment by Shs5, 000 on all upcountry routes to or from Kampala.
Nathan Byanyima, the association’s chairman explained the decision was to give bus operator a competitive advantage in the light of the fuel prices.
“When the economic change, we have to transfer the burden to the customers so we share the burden. Bus owners and operators are losing too much money and as thus, cannot keep the prices normal,” he added.
The decision by buses took immediate effect as passengers who Matooke Republic talked to explained.
Modern Agaba, a lecturer at Uganda Christian University (UCU) paid almost double the normal price when he travelled to the university’s Kabale Campus for a brief stint.
“Normally it costs me Shs50, 000 to and from Kabale but when I travelled on Monday for my class, I was charged Shs35, 000. That means I need about Shs75, 000 to make the return journey,” he said via phone.
On South Western route, transport from Kampala to Kisoro is now at Shs40,000 up from Shs35,000, Kabale is Shs30,000 from Shs25,000, Mbarara has increased to Shs20,000 from Shs15,000 and Bushenyi-Ishaka to Shs25,000.
Passengers travelling to the eastern Uganda districts of Kaabong have to part with Shs55,000 to Shs60000, Kotido is now Shs50,000, Abim Shs40,000, Tororo Shs25,000, Soroti Shs25,000, Serere Shs30,000 and Mbale Shs20,000.
For West Nile and Nothern Uganda routes, transport to Lira is now Shs35,000, Moyo Shs40,000, Arua Shs35,000, Yumbe Shs45,000 and Gulu Shs30,000. Global Coaches that plies that Masaka-Mbarara highway and Mbale’s Y.Y Coaches both issued notices notifying their customers of the new prices effective immediately.
Cheap fuel a bad idea
According to Kaita Edward, Total’s Pump Manager in Mukono town, motorists have resorted to consuming cheap yet unpurified fuel in a bid to save money. Although he acknowledged that prices for premium fuel are high, Kaita warned motorists against opting for cheap fuel as their vehicle engines will pay the heavy price.
“It is not easy for a motorist to detect with the naked eye the difference between good and fake fuel but there is a lot of adulterated fuel on the market and it is cheaper than the original. That fuel really spoils cars,” he said.
In April, the ministry of energy blacklisted 114 pump stations that it said were selling adulterated fuel to Ugandans.
Reverend Frank Tukwasibwe, the commissioner of petroleum supplies in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development told Matooke Republic that although the ministry can intervene in fuel regulation, motorists must take personal initiative to boycott “bad fuel.”
“Adulterated fuel is the product of a mixture of high-quality fuel and low-quality products, which brings about a change in the chemical properties. This type of fuel is dangerous to a car engine and, in most cases, leads to a breakdown,” he said.
He says the ministry has repeatedly reported fuel pumps with adulterated fuel to the police but little or no action is taken. Tukwasibwe further noted that fuel adulterants alter the chemistry of the base fuel rendering its quality inferior in quality for vehicles.
“This, in turn, affects the combustion dynamics inside the combustion chamber of vehicles increasing the emissions of harmful pollutants significantly,” he added.
While embarking into a taxi to Busega from Bweyogerere stage, the conductor made it a point to inform the passengers that Shs1,000 wills starting Monday taken them as far as the Naalya-Ntinda roundabout as opposed to Kisaasi stage.
What ensued was uncoordinated as passengers hurled all sorts of insults at the government that they say is uncaring and exploitative.
Nicholas Opolot, a law student, and an intern at the Law Development Center intimated that this financial year 2018/19 will be the government’s biggest undoing as almost every source of human livelihood has been taxed.
“First of all, I can’t get a job. When I begin an online shop, you tax me on social media. You tax the landlords hence I can’t afford rent, you increase the electricity tariffs and tax mobile money transactions and now, I have to pay more to travel the same distance due to a tax on fuel, this is a big mistake on the side of the government. They will regret it,” he said.
Richard Tumanye, a banana, and milk trader has been forced to cut his trips to western Uganda where he gets merchandise due to the fuel prices.
He says, “If I go there now, I will either buy bananas and milk expensively and incur hefty transport costs or I will have to cut the frequency of travels there and this obviously affects my business.”