Residents urge govt to fulfil pledge on free gas cylinders

 To achieve this, the government has partnered with fuel companies including Shell, TotalEnergies Marketing Uganda Ltd, and Stabex International Ltd to provide free gas cylinders.

The project has, however, stalled due to inadequate funds to facilitate the supply of more gas cylinders to the targeted beneficiaries in the first priority areas of Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono.

Mr Medi Mugerwa,a resident of Kazo Central Zone I, said he and several residents have not yet received the gas cylinders even though they paid Shs100,000 to their leaders.

“A total of 64 residents who filled the forms and took them to Stabex Headquarters at Lubigi have not yet received their cylinders. We have tried to call them several times, but they are not responding,” he said.

A resident of Entebbe Municiaplity who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being victimised, said he has waited since August last year for a gas cylinder.

“I convinced three friends to register for the cylinders last year and each of us has put aside Shs100,000 to pay for refilling once we get the cylinders. But it’s more than a year now and we have not received cylinders. I have been to Stabex fuel station in Abaita Ababiri (Katabi Town Council) numerous times over the same matter.  The officers there have always asked me to be patient,” the resident said.

Local leaders in Wakiso said residents who filled application forms and paid the mandatory fees in anticipation of getting cooking gas cylinders have waited for a year in vain.

 “Many residents who paid their money [to get gas cylinders] think we –the village leaders connived with the suppliers to steal their money yet it is the government which has failed to fulfill its promise,” he said on Monday.

Mr Godfrey Kabenge, the chairperson of Nabweru South Cell II, said 50 of the 300 residents he registered in his area have so far received gas cylinders.

“More than 100 residents had paid their money, but because of the delay, I had to pay back their money since they didn’t receive the gas cylinders,” he said.

Mr Musa Kanakulya, the chairperson of Nabweru South III, told Daily Monitor that only 10 residents received gas cylinders out of over 40 residents he had registered. “People think the government was lying and they have lost hope of receiving the said gas cylinders,” he said.

Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, the minister of Energy, on Monday said there has been a delay in distributing gas cylinders to some individuals who registered and paid their money, but blamed it on lack of funds to manufacture more cylinders.

“From the feedback we are getting, people liked our initiative and we urge them not to lose hope because we are working tirelessly to secure funds and pay the contractor to manufacture more cylinders to satisfy the growing market,” she said.

Ms Nankabirwa said the government is also in the final stages of establishing a cooking gas manufacturing factory in Kajjansi on Kampala- Entebbe Road.

“We will begin with importing gas until we get our own in 2025. Ugandans should get prepared to safely use gas. But it is a pity that we are moving slowly because of funds. We are supposed to pay Bruhan Gas Company, a Pakistani company, more money to manufacture more gas cylinders,” she said.

The minister said the factory will produce 5, 000 gas cylinders every day.

Happy beneficiaries

    Ms Maureen Asiimwe Mugenyi, a resident of Nabweru South Cell II in Nansana Municipality, said she is one of the beneficiaries who received a gas cylinder in the first phase. She, however, decried the cost of refilling the cylinders.

“It is now six months since I last used gas because I cannot afford the Shs100,000 to refill a cylinder of 13kg. I urge the government and the companies to reduce the prices,” she said yesterday.

Ms Allen Nambatya, also a resident of Nabweru, said: “I have diabetes and doctors prescribed for me to eat in time. It is helping me a lot since it is very fast. Before gas was introduced, I used to buy charcoal for Shs2, 000 every day and it was not enough. If I wanted to boil simple things like water, I had to add money for paraffin to use a stove.”  

ABOUT PROJECT

Mr John Friday, the LPG project manager in the Ministry of Energy, on Monday said their target is to ensure at least 20 percent of the population uses gas for cooking by 2030.

   He said a total of 24,233 people have so far received cooking gas cylinders in Mukono, Wakiso, and Kampala in the past year.

 “The project started from Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso because those districts have the biggest population with high usage of charcoal. The target is to supply 200,000 gas cylinders per year for the next five years to mitigate climate change effects,” Mr Friday said.

   Statistics from the Ministry of Energy indicate that there has been an increase in the usage of gas from 25,000 LPG tonnes in 2021 to 32,000 tonnes in 2022.

  In July 2022, the government launched the Shs900b project through which one million households were to receive cylinders complete with accessories for cooking to promote cleaner energy and save the remaining forest cover.    

  However,  Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, the minister for Energy and Mineral Development, said to benefit from the project, each household has to prove that they can afford to refill the cylinder at Shs100,000.