UNDERGROUND ENERGY WAR: STABEX INTERNATIONAL, Total, Rubis, Ultimate Clean Energies, Mogas and Other Energy companies Unite to Fight Black-Market Cartels Hijacking Half of Uganda’s Gas Supply
BY SHEDRACK CHEBET
7 JULY 2026
Stabex International has spearheaded a high-stakes national intervention to dismantle a massive parallel underground economy controlling half of Uganda’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market. The emergency industry engagement, organized under the Sustainable Energies and Petroleum Association of Uganda (SEPA-U), convened at the MOGAS Head Office in Garden City, Kampala. The summit formed an unprecedented coalition among licensed brands including Stabex International, Rubis, TotalEnergies, Imperial Gas, Ultimate Clean Energies, and host MOGAS to salvage market integrity and consumer safety.
Data from the SEPA-U session revealed that rogue operators illicitly cross-fill between 80 to 100 metric tonnes of gas monthly. By bypassing safety and weight standards, these cartels flood residential communities with high-risk cylinders. Rather than entering a corporate turf war, Stabex shifted the focus entirely toward legal accountability, supply-chain traceability, and weaponizing laws to prosecute, fine, and imprison back-alley operators.
Addressing systemic regulatory gaps, Stabex International and other companies called out the institutional vulnerabilities enabling counterfeiters to thrive. Legitimate market leaders expressed deep frustration that hundreds of cylinders regularly seized during state raids mysteriously vanish from storage depots and reappear on the black market.
Justus Kiptoo, the General Manager of Stabex International, focused on institutional compliance, urging the industry to look past small retail outlets and aggressively target the big headers behind these networks. “In most cases, these illegal refilling stations belong to well-funded, entrenched players,” Kiptoo declared. “Stabex International will not tolerate a superficial enforcement fight. This parallel market must be handled with precise strategic sensitivity and fought firmly from the very top. True compliance begins with us, the legitimate market leaders.”
To systematically starve the black market of assets, Boniface Kipchirchir, Head of Operations at Stabex International, demanded an overhaul of distribution data and immediate audits at the manufacturing source. “To break this cycle permanently, Stabex International is demanding a comprehensive audit of all cylinder manufacturing plants,” Kipchirchir stated. “We must identify exactly who these facilities are manufacturing for, list illegal refillers, and track down hidden storage cages tucked away in our towns to neutralize them before they reach a single home.”
This strategy has secured direct backing from the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, Hon. Sanjay Tanna, who pledged that legitimate investments will be protected through a coordinated public-private alliance. In response, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is finalizing a multi-sectoral launch of reinforced LPG regulations alongside the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), KCCA, the Uganda Law Society, mainstream media, and Boda Boda Associations.
To structurally lock out counterfeiters, Stabex International successfully pushed delegates to replace standard retail invoices with a standardized Cylinder Deposit Receipt. Driven by Stabex’s legal framework, every receipt will carry an unalterable disclaimer stating that the cylinder remains the exclusive property of the selling oil marketing company. SEPA-U is also petitioning to amend tax frameworks, so these deposits are not wrongfully factored into VAT, freeing up funds for a massive public safety communication budget.
For Stabex International, this campaign is rooted in its core corporate value: absolute household safety. Illegal cross-filling skips mandatory hydrostatic pressure and valve tests, leading to inaccurate weights and catastrophic household fires. Stabex urges all consumers across Uganda to aggressively perform three quick checks before buying gas.
First, check the safety seal; every genuine Stabex cylinder features a branded, tight, tamper-proof plastic seal, and if it is broken, loose, or missing, the cylinder must be rejected immediately.
Second, verify cylinder integrity by never accepting cylinders showing heavy rust, deep dents, or structural cracks around the base, as Stabex pulls these damaged vessels from circulation for rigorous re-certification testing.
Lastly, report suspicious activity; rogue refillers frequently slap cheap, generic seals onto authentic, high-quality Stabex cylinders, and consumers are urged to report mismatched seals, unauthorized filling operations, or illegal cylinder cages hidden in residential neighborhoods directly to local law enforcement or the nearest certified Stabex International service station.
