FDC urges phased charcoal ban transition, demands subsidized clean energy

The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has called on the government to engage directly with charcoal traders and formulate a realistic, phased roadmap following Parliament's suspension of the commercial charcoal ban.

The nationwide restriction on commercial charcoal burning and trade, driven primarily by Presidential Executive Order No. 3 of 2023, was recently halted by legislators following intense public outcry and economic strain.

Speaking to journalists during a press briefing at the party’s headquarters in Najjanankumbi, Kampala, on Monday, FDC Vice Chairperson Robert Franco Centenary urged the state to abandon high-handed enforcement in favor of a consultative transition.
"If clean energy is the ultimate goal, government must genuinely subsidize electricity tariffs for cooking and bring the cost of gas refills down to a level that low-income earners can afford," Mr. Centenary stated, urging the state to consult charcoal traders, local leaders, and affected communities.

The FDC leadership highlighted that punitive measures target the vulnerable while ignoring systemic drivers of environmental degradation. Mr. Centenary noted that the government must look beyond scapegoating the informal sector and address institutional corruption, unregulated commercial logging, and the broader economic pressures driving deforestation.
"Government must immediately stop the burning of trucks, harassment of traders, and militarized enforcement that is impoverishing citizens," Mr. Centenary added.

To address environmental concerns constructively, the opposition party proposed an aggressive nationwide reforestation campaign. Mr. Centenary suggested that the government, through the National Forestry Authority (NFA), distribute free tree seedlings to citizens during monthly community service days to actively restore the country’s declining forest cover.
He emphasized that the executive should utilize the current parliamentary grace period to rethink its environmental strategy, cautioning that conservation policy must never become a tool to punish the poor.

Addressing broader economic hardships alongside rising fuel costs, Mr. Centenary urged the government to cushion vulnerable citizens against the escalating prices of food, transport, and basic necessities. He called for strategic investments in local agriculture, agro-processing, and manufacturing to reduce import reliance and strengthen the local currency.
While acknowledging recent monetary interventions by the Bank of Uganda to manage the foreign exchange market and stabilize the shilling, the party maintained that long-term relief requires structural economic support.

Data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicates that between 87 percent and 94 percent of Ugandan households continue to rely on biomass energy—primarily charcoal and firewood—for their daily cooking needs, with approximately 80 percent of Kampala residents relying specifically on charcoal.