Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has identified former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo as the Kenyan politician who first alerted him to Uganda’s use of middlemen to source petroleum products from Kenya.
Museveni said Jirongo contacted him in 2019 and raised concerns over the arrangement, prompting him to ask Uganda’s then Energy Minister Irene Muloni to look into the matter.
Speaking in his birthday message to Ugandans on Sunday, September 20, Museveni also sought to clarify earlier remarks he made about Uganda’s fuel imports through Kenya.
He accused some Kenyan media outlets of exaggerating his comments after he spoke during the groundbreaking of a 320-million-litre oil storage facility at Buyala.
“Some Kenyan media people decided, recently, to put pilipili (red pepper) in what I said recently when I was laying the Foundation stone of the 320 million litres oil storage centre at Buyala,” Museveni said.
He said it was Jirongo who raised the issue with him around 2019.
“It was a Kenyan Senator called Jirongo who told me this around 2019. I immediately tasked the then Minister Irene Muloni to sort out that mess,” he added.
Museveni said, however, that the matter was not resolved immediately and Uganda continued with the arrangement until 2023.
“Nevertheless, nothing happened until 2023 when we linked up with a group known as Vitol that has refineries in different parts of the World and is also a bulk supplier,” he said.
The remarks have come amid renewed debate in Kenya over Uganda’s previous fuel import arrangements and allegations that Kenyan intermediaries made money from the deal.
Museveni had earlier said that Uganda was buying petroleum products through agents in Kenya instead of sourcing them directly from refiners. He said the arrangement resulted in higher costs for Uganda.
The comments have also drawn political attention in Kenya, with some opposition leaders linking the issue to President William Ruto and the Government-to-Government (G2G) oil import arrangement.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has defended the deal, saying it was introduced at a time when Kenya was facing a serious shortage of US dollars in 2022.
Wandayi said the arrangement was intended to ease pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves and prevent further economic difficulties.
President Ruto’s economic adviser David Ndii has also defended the arrangement, arguing that oil companies involved in importing petroleum into Kenya are owned by governments, while the company Uganda is currently working with is privately owned.
Museveni, meanwhile, praised Ruto for supporting Uganda’s new fuel import arrangement.
“I want to thank H.E Ruto because he prevailed over some actors in Kenya who were trying to resist,” Museveni said.
He added that Kenya allowed Uganda to continue transporting its petroleum products through the Kenyan pipeline and gave Uganda a 20.15 per cent shareholding in the pipeline.
Jirongo, whom Museveni identified as the person who raised the issue with him, was a former Lugari MP and prominent Kenyan politician. He died in a road accident on December 13, 2025.