Security impounds lorry full of charcoal in Gulu

GULU, UGANDA: The implementation of the Presidential executive order on the charcoal business has come into force as a lorry full of bags of charcoal was Tuesday impounded in Gulu district awaiting prosecution of the illegal dealer in the charcoal business.

According to the Deputy Resident District Commissioner Gulu, Mr James Cosmas Okidi, the whistleblower, Hon Oyet Kenneth, the district councillor representing the people of Awach Sub-County in the Gulu district, tipped them about the charcoal lorry making them swing in action.

Mr Okidi together with the RDC and a team from the district security committee staged an operation on Tuesday this week on trucks suspected of trafficking charcoal and confiscated a Fuso Truck from Gulu travelling towards Awach Sub-County headquarters road.

James Cosmas told DailyExpress that on arrival at the scene of the crime, the villagers had already begun raiding the charcoal, leaving the truck with just a few sacks and residue where the suspected business people had fled.

However, they asked the District police commander to transport the Fuso vehicle to the central police station and track down the offenders for prosecution, as directed by Hon. Minister for Presidency Milly Babalanda in her letter.

“After we mounted the vehicle, the owners and suspected business people fled, and we ordered the DPC to ferry the truck to the police station, where we are still holding it,” said Deputy RDC Okidi.

He said the district security committee has initiated an operation after holding multiple radio talk shows to inform the population about the president’s executive directives.

“We did not just start the carrying an operation but we started by sensitizing the community on the executive orders that were sent by the president; we used several platforms such as radio talk shows, community engagement, and others but others have continued to defy the directive, he explained.

Okidi warned that no one should continue ferrying charcoal from the area because they are well-equipped to carry out the president’s executive orders.

His Excellency the President of Uganda, General Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, recently issued an Executive Order Number [3] of 2023 prohibiting all bulk charcoal sales throughout the country.