President Museveni arriving to preside over the groundbreaking of the 320-million-litre Kampala Storage Terminal at Namwabula in Mpigi District.President Yoweri Museveni has ruled out transporting petroleum products across Lake Victoria, warning that an accident involving a fuel vessel could contaminate one of Uganda’s most vital freshwater resources.Museveni said Uganda should instead rely on pipelines and railways, citing the route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) as a safer approach.He made the remarks on Thursday while presiding over the groundbreaking of the 320-million-litre Kampala Storage Terminal at Namwabula in Mpigi District.Museveni said proposals to connect the new terminal to existing infrastructure at Kawuku would involve moving fuel across Lake Victoria. He rejected the idea.“I’m not comfortable with transporting petroleum over Lake Victoria, our fresh water. Suppose you get an accident. I have never liked that idea,” Museveni said.He linked his objection to the decision to route EACOP around Lake Victoria.The 1,443km pipeline is being developed to transport Uganda’s crude from Hoima through Tanzania to the export terminal in Tanga. The selected route does not cross the lake.“That’s why the East African Crude Oil Pipeline had to go around the lake. To put it under the lake is very, very dangerous,” he warned.“So, for me, I think the safer is pipeline and railway, the two. So, we need to sort that one out.”The remarks place Lake Victoria at the centre of Uganda’s petroleum transport debate, years after government promoted the lake route for imported fuel.In 2016, Museveni met investors from Mahathi Infra Services who proposed moving petroleum products from Kisumu in Kenya to Uganda using tankers on Lake Victoria, plus a strategic storage terminal.The project became part of Uganda’s petroleum supply infrastructure. As recently as May 2026, the Ministry of Energy said government had partnered with Lake Victoria Logistics, formerly Mahathi Infra, to diversify supply routes and improve efficiency.The facility at Kawuku has a storage capacity of 70 million litres.Museveni’s latest position therefore raises questions about the future role of the lake in Uganda’s fuel supply chain. It comes as Uganda builds infrastructure to reduce dependence on road transport and external supply routes. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Irene Pauline Batebe, said the Mpigi terminal is intended to strengthen strategic reserves and protect the country from external shocks.“Limited in-country storage often leaves a nation exposed to external shocks. Adequate strategic reserves like what you are doing at the groundbreaking today are extremely essential,” Batebe said.Uganda currently has about 159.7 million litres of petroleum storage capacity. This includes 30 million litres at the UNOC facility in Jinja, 70 million litres at the Mahathi facility in Kawuku and about 60 million litres held by oil marketing companies.Uganda consumes approximately 240 million litres of petroleum products per month. The new terminal will therefore provide storage equivalent to about 30 days of national consumption.“We are consuming 240 million litres per month, so by deploying this facility we will ideally have added a 30-day strategic storage facility,” Batebe said.But Museveni said even this additional capacity is not enough.“You have heard that in a month we use 240 million litres. But up to now, the storage in Jinja was only 30 million. The one we are going to build here will be 320 million litres. But I think this is not enough,” he said.Museveni said Uganda should build larger reserves that can be used when international supplies are disrupted, citing countries like China that can rely on reserves during political crises.He also argued that long-term petroleum infrastructure should increasingly shift from road to pipelines and rail.He said the planned refined products pipeline from Hoima to the Kampala terminal will eventually allow products from Uganda’s refinery to be pumped directly to Mpigi.“The clear plan here is the finished products pipeline from Hoima to Buloba. Once the refinery is working in Hoima, it will pump the products up to here,” he said.Museveni said the Mpigi terminal could then serve as a distribution hub for Kampala, northwestern Tanzania and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, reducing truck volumes and pressure on roads.He also criticised Uganda’s historical procurement arrangements, saying the country had for years bought petroleum through middlemen in Kenya instead of dealing directly with refiners.He said the current arrangement involving UNOC and Vitol had reduced premiums.Energy Minister Dr. Monica Musenero Masanza said the premium on diesel had fallen from US$118 per metric tonne under the previous arrangement to US$83. For petrol, it fell from US$97.50 to US$61.50, while aviation fuel dropped from US$114.25 to US$79.25.“So, you wonder, the commissioners for all those years. What were they commissioning?” Museveni asked.Batebe said the Kampala terminal is part of government’s wider petroleum security strategy under the Fourth National Development Plan. The Ministry plans to develop additional strategic storage terminals in Hoima, Mbarara, Gulu, Arua, Mbale and Soroti.She said UNOC and Vitol have been given until September 2028 to complete the Kampala facility.Meanwhile, Uganda’s broader petroleum infrastructure is increasingly tied to Tanzania through the Tanga Energy Hub, which is expected to include storage, refining, logistics, trading and distribution infrastructure, building on EACOP and Uganda’s planned refinery.-URNThe post Museveni Rejects Fuel Transport on Lake Victoria: “Too Risky, An Oil Spill Would Contaminate Our Water” appeared first on Business Focus.