By Spy Uganda
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has presided over the groundbreaking of the Kampala Storage Terminal (KST) in Namwabula, Mpigi District, a major petroleum infrastructure project expected to strengthen Uganda’s fuel security and reduce the country’s exposure to international supply disruptions.
The US$310 million facility, being developed by the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), will have the capacity to store 320 million litres of refined petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, jet fuel and kerosene.
Uganda currently consumes about 240 million litres of petroleum products every month, making adequate storage capacity critical to maintaining supplies during emergencies, market disruptions and interruptions along regional import routes.
The new terminal will complement the government-owned Jinja Storage Terminal, which currently holds about 30 million litres. An additional 10 million litres is being added at Jinja, bringing the combined government-owned storage capacity to approximately 360 million litres once the Kampala facility and the Jinja expansion are complete.
Energy and Mineral Development Minister Monica Musenero described the Mpigi project as a strategic investment in Uganda’s energy security.
“It will secure our energy security as a nation. It is going to be a strategic positioning project for the country,” Musenero said.
The project is being developed on approximately 300 acres at Namwabula Estate and is expected to serve Kampala, the Central Region and other parts of the country.
UNOC Board Chairperson Mathias Katamba said the terminal will give the country greater capacity to maintain petroleum reserves and respond to disruptions affecting international supply corridors and global markets.
The facility will also provide space for UNOC to manage its trading stocks, while allowing government to build and maintain strategic petroleum reserves. Oil marketing companies will also be able to access storage and handling services at the terminal.
However, Museveni said the planned capacity should not be viewed as the final solution to Uganda’s fuel security needs.
He criticised what he described as delays in addressing weaknesses in the country’s petroleum supply system, arguing that Uganda needs substantially larger reserves to withstand prolonged disruptions.
“Sleeping has been a big problem in Africa. In this sector, there was a lot of sleeping,” Museveni said.
The President recalled Uganda’s previous dependence on petroleum products purchased through intermediaries in Kenya and said the country had since taken steps to allow UNOC to participate more directly in fuel imports and distribution.
“We are now moving slowly out of sleep,” Museveni said.
The Mpigi terminal is part of a broader plan to establish an integrated petroleum value chain linking oil production, refining, storage and distribution.
It is expected to connect to Uganda’s planned refinery in Hoima through a proposed 211-kilometre multi-products pipeline, allowing domestically refined petroleum products to be transported to the storage facility for distribution.
The terminal will also incorporate the proposed Mpigi Remote Refinery Terminal, which is intended to receive, store and dispatch petroleum products from the refinery.
The wider infrastructure network is expected to allow Uganda to handle both imported and domestically refined petroleum products, strengthening the country’s ability to supply the local market while creating opportunities for regional distribution.
The project forms part of the government’s petroleum infrastructure programme under the Fourth National Development Plan, which seeks to expand national storage capacity for refined petroleum products and develop additional strategic storage facilities.
Katamba said the project is also expected to create opportunities for local employment, skills development and participation by Ugandan companies.
The groundbreaking comes as Uganda advances towards first oil, domestic refining and the development of an integrated petroleum industry.
