Govt has for 3 years now been single-sourcing Agro Fuels for the procurement and supply of petroleum products

Fuel single-sourcing shocker

(Daily Nation )
…as petroleum products dealers demand that government should stop single-sourcing of petroleum products because it has made fuel more expensive by K10

By NATION REPORTER
THE government has for three years now been single-sourcing Agro Fuels for the procurement and supply of petroleum products at the exclusion of other players and now, other dealers have protested and are demanding that the single-sourcing should immediately be stopped.

The Oil Marketing Association of Zambia (OMAZ) says the energy sector has been messed up by government that has insisted on single-sourcing leading to the country buying petroleum at K10 more as a result of exclusively favouring one player in the sector as the sole supplier.

Dr Kafula Mubanga, the Oil Marketing Association of Zambia (OMAZ) president says the UPND should immediately stop the single-sourcing of petroleum products which is exclusively being done by Agro Fuels because the energy sector is on the verge of collapse as a result.

Dr Mubanga said the energy sector had extensively been mismanaged and is on the verge of total collapse unless the UPND administration invokes its political will and do away with single sourcing of petroleum products.

He said for nearly three years, the UPND had engaged only one player in the name of Agro Fuels who had been single-sourced and had been supplying of up to 80 percent of the national stock to the exclusion of other players.

“It is a reality that the energy sector has gone to sleep. For nearly three years, there is only one player on the market and this is Agro Fuels. He supplies over 60 to 80 percent of national stock,” Dr Mubanga said.

He explained that other players were on their knees as nobody was bringing in fuel stock.
Dr Mubanga said further redistribution by the road network was gone because Government was using the TAZAMA Pipeline which was also exclusively being used by Agro Fuels.
“What we need are Zambians to manage the given slots and to manage the pipeline and that would resuscitate the sector. Unfortunately, I would like to agree with Mr Stephen Kampyongo that the sector was on the verge of collapse because there was only one person driving it,” Dr Mubanga said.
He said the trickle down of activities one contractor, Agro-fuel was not trickling down.
“What Government needs to do is to invoke political will. If Government is not benefitting, why should they insist on dealing with Agro Fuels. The Auditor General’s report is very clear, Agro Fuels has over priced its products.”
“The fuels supplied by Agro Fuels are K10 more expensive and people thought we were joking until the Auditor General’s Report revealed that there was over US$51 billion missing as a result of overpricing of invoices,” he said.

Dr Mubanga said one supplier of fuel was extorting government by manipulating petroleum products prices and determining the cost of the commodity at K36 per litre.
“Government needs to decide whether to serve the Zambians or Agro Fuels. These are two options. They need to go open tender and remove Agro Fuels from the equation. They need justification for Agro Fuels to run for three years as a single supplier in such a sector,” he said.

Dr Mubanga said if Government was failing to control the price of fuel, then it meant that they could not control the price of electricity.
He said if the UPND had the political will, they could change the narrative and would have made the prices of petroleum products more competitive as opposed to allowing an individual to decide the economic fate of the country.

“Unfortunately, the sector is on the verge of collapse as Mr Kapyongo has put it,” Dr Mubanga said.

And Dr Mubanga wondered where the dead stock fuel was that was pumped out of TAZAMA Pipeline during the cleaning process.

“From our understanding, dead stock is basically put to keep afloat fuel products and assist in stocks. It is not usually tampered with even when you close down a pipeline. You restock the dead stock and it should be very available,” Dr Mubanga said.
Ends.