Kenya and Uganda have commenced dialogue to resolve issues affecting the flow of petroleum products between the two neighboring East African countries.
- Kenya imports oil and sell to some of its neighbouring countries including Uganda.
- Late last year, Uganda sued Kenya for denying Uganda National Oil Corporation (Unoc) licence to handle fuel imports enroute to Uganda.
- Uganda claimed Kenya backtracked on a promise to support the landlocked nation to directly import its fuel.
“In my meeting with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, we also discussed the need for the two countries to urgently pursue the design and construction of the earlier conceptualized Eldoret-Kampala-Kigali refined petroleum product pipeline,” President William Ruto said.
The Kenyan president also said the two countries have agreed on a way forward of sourcing and scheduling imports for the region in a manner that will ensure they achieve the most competitive pricing and maximum logistical efficiency.
According to BBC, the row between Kenya and Uganda started when President Museveni accused Kenyan middlemen of inflating oil prices by upto 58 per cent causing loses to Uganda. Following the disagreement, Museveni’s administration has reportedly been in talks with Tanzania to use the Port of Dar es Salaam to handle Uganda’s fuel imports. Uganda’s annual petroleum imports avarages 2.5 billion litres equivalent to Ksh302.34 billion.
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