Kampala — The post-election crisis in Kenya is spreading to its neighbours as fuel shortages begin to bite in Uganda.

Pump prices have more than doubled in Kampala as black marketers pocketed staggering profits in roadside sales.

Motorists moved from one "empty" fuel station to another in Kampala and other parts of Uganda as the price of a litre of gasoline, which had risen to USh2,460 on Monday in Kampala, jumped to between USh4,000 and USh5,000 at daybreak on Tuesday. Long queues of anxious clients were witnessed at various pump stations, as local oil suppliers warned of further scarcity if the bloody melt-down in the neighbouring Kenya - and main fuel source for landlocked Uganda - does not calm sooner.

"The continued instability in Kenya has a negative impact not only on fuel supply, but also on other imported goods," said Mr Ivan Kyayonka, the country manager of Shell Uganda.

He added: "How long the (fuel) stocks we have will last depends on the consumption pattern."

Observers say it is amateurish for a government that saw the country plunge into acute fuel shortage in early and mid-last year due to logistic and bureaucratic bottlenecks in Kenya not to have its own reserves.

The Ministry of Energy is now employing ad hoc approaches to stave off the nascent economic chaos of the deepening fuel crisis that has catapulted travel fares and ejected some millers from business.

"The situation is bad, but we are doing everything possible to normalise it," junior Energy minister Simon D'Ujanga said.

He suggested that Uganda might hold crisis talks with authorities in Tanzania to permit fuel loading from Mwanza since a round trip to the more distant Dar es Salaam terminals takes a whole week for the fuel dealers.

Mr Joseph Kisembo, the marketing manager and spokesman for Kobil (Uganda), said they last hauled petroleum products from Kenya a week ago - on December 24.

Turned away

From Arua in West Nile region to Masaka in the Central and Mid-West to Kibaale District, pump attendants turned away hundreds of potential clients, saying their petrol stocks had dried up while others started rationing diesel to selected customers.

In downtown Kampala, Mr John Kitasimbwa, the spokesman of Commercial Taxi Owners and Transporters Development Association (Cotoda), said drivers were making less monetary returns to the regulator on grounds of sudden loss making.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, senior Energy minister Daudi Migereko appealed to the public to ration use of the dwindling petrol stock by cutting down travel during the New Year holidays.

In Kibaale District, motorists jostled and clashed with one another at Gapco, Caltex and Petro-City fuel stations.

The three outlets all ran out of petrol, pushing the price of a litre of petrol, available only in Kyenzige Town, to USh4,000.

Additional reporting by Francis Mugerwa and Michael J. Ssali