URN.The impounded vehicles that include a Toyota Corona registration number UAM 454M, UAE 742B double cabin pickup, and Corona UAK 214E were transporting the fuel from the sub-counties of Buhimba, Kizirafumbi, Kabwoya, and Kyangwali. The occupants fled and abandoned the vehicles which had 40 jerrycans of fuel.
Security personnel in Kikuube District have impounded three vehicles transporting stolen fuel from China Railway Seventh Group Company Limited.
The company was contracted by the government to tarmac various roads in the Bunyoro sub-region. The roads are Masindi-Biiso 54km, Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarushesha-Butole 25km, and Kabaale-Kiziranfumbi 25.7km in Hoima, Buliisa Masindi, and Kikuube districts.
The impounded vehicles that include a Toyota Corona registration number UAM 454M, UAE 742B double cabin pickup, and Corona UAK 214E were transporting the fuel from the sub-counties of Buhimba, Kizirafumbi, Kabwoya, and Kyangwali. The occupants fled and abandoned the vehicles which had 40 jerrycans of fuel.
Amlan Tumusiime, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner says that the operations will continue until all the culprits are arrested. According to Tumusiime, the fuel thieves are conniving with some truck drivers of the company.
An official from China Railway Number Seventh group who spoke on condition of anonymity says the company loses 4,500 liters of fuel to thieves every month. He says that the siphoned fuel is transported to Hoima City, Masindi, and Kampala among other areas.
In May 2021, police impounded one of the vehicles involved in the fuel siphoning.
The vehicle registration number UAD 189K Toyota Corona was impounded in an impromptu operation conducted by police to crack down on the increasing cases of fuel siphoning among truck drivers and workers of the company.
The vehicle was impounded in Kyakatemba village in Kikuube district where siphoning of fuel was taking place.
In 2018, detectives recovered 2,000 liters of diesel that had been stolen from the Hoima International Airport construction site in Kabaale village, Kabaale Parish, Kabaale sub-county in Hoima district and arrested nine people for allegedly siphoning fuel from company vehicles.
