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Kikuube, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Senior police officers in Kikuube district are being investigated over fuel theft.
The officers whose names have been withheld for fear of jeopardizing police investigations are accused of participating in the dubious fuel deals.
They are alleged to be conniving with truck drivers to siphon fuel from trucks belonging to China Railway Seventh Group Company limited which is undertaking major construction works on the critical oil roads in the Albertine graben.
Amlan Tumusiime, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner-RDC, says currently they are investigating several police officers who have been implicated in the dubious business of fuel theft.
According to Tumusiime, the several police officers who have been singled will soon have tough measures taken against them, adding that the officers have started recording statements.
Tumusiime says theft of fuel by some of the company workers and especially the drivers could adversely affect the progress of the road construction works.
Recently, the management of China Railway Seventh Group Company limited noticed that it was losing 4,500 litres of fuel monthly in thefts.
The fuel thieves connive with the company truck drivers to siphon fuel from their trucks. The stolen fuel is later transported to Hoima and Masindi and Kampala where it is sold.
Last month, 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 crackdown 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 fuel was taking place. The culprits allegedly fled and abandoned the vehicle when police stormed their hideout. Police also recovered six jerrycans of suspected siphoned fuel during the operation.
The impounded vehicle is currently parked at Kikuube central police station as the hunt for the suspects is ongoing.
The Chinese company is undertaking the tarmacking of the Masindi-Biiso 54km, Hohwa-Nyairongo-Kyarushesha-Butole 25km and Kabaale-Kiziranfumbi 25.7km in Hoima, Buliisa, Masindi and Kikuube districts.
The entire road project whose contract was awarded to China Railway Seventh Group Company limited will cost the government 504 billion shillings.
In April 2018, detectives recovered 2,000 litres 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.
The suspects were using a pick-up truck to transport the siphoned fuel to Kampala.
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