Security authorities in Northern Uganda have warned that trucks repeatedly used to transport charcoal in violation of President Yoweri Museveni’s ban risk being auctioned as the government intensifies a crackdown on the illicit trade.
The warning was issued on Monday at Lira Military Barracks in Lira City, where the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Fifth Infantry Division handed back 16 trucks impounded for transporting forest products in the Acholi and Lango sub-regions.
Five of the trucks had been intercepted loaded with firewood, while 11 were loaded with about 900 bags of charcoal destined for markets in Central Uganda.
The owners were released after authorities determined that they were first-time offenders. But the Lira Resident City Commissioner, Lawrence Egole, warned that repeat offenders would not receive the same leniency.
“You are lucky. All of you are first offenders, as it was said. But if there was any second offender here, I don’t think that vehicle would leave this place to be auctioned,” Egole said.
Egole said Executive Order No. 3 provides for the auctioning of vehicles repeatedly used to transport charcoal in violation of the ban.
“The executive order also allows this team to auction all these vehicles. Repeat offenders should not expect their trucks to be released after being impounded,” he said.
The warning comes amid a renewed security crackdown on a charcoal trade that has persisted three years after President Museveni issued Executive Order No. 3 banning commercial charcoal production, trade and transportation in Northern Uganda.
The crackdown has also extended to charcoal brought into Uganda from South Sudan, amid reports by security and environmental officials that some dealers have shifted their operations to the West Nile Sub-region.
Authorities in Nwoya District recently impounded more than 2,000 bags of charcoal at checkpoints in Purongo Sub-county and Anaka Town Council. More than 800 of the bags were subsequently distributed to residents after the UPDF Fourth Infantry Division said the charcoal had been confiscated from dealers defying the ban.
The charcoal was distributed to residents of Agung Village in Purongo and Anaka Town Council on the orders of the then Fourth Infantry Division Commander, Maj Gen Felix Busizoori.
Busizoori had earlier warned charcoal traders that from August 11, 2026, any charcoal impounded in Northern Uganda would be distributed to local communities rather than returned to dealers.
“You are receiving this charcoal because your livelihoods and surroundings have been severely impacted by deforestation driven by illegal dealers,” Busizoori told residents.
The Nwoya operation also resulted in the arrest of seven people who were allegedly transporting charcoal. Three box-bodied trucks, registration numbers UBL 273K, UBM 450B and UAY 3204, were intercepted while heading towards Karuma.
Nwoya Resident District Commissioner Christopher Omara said some of the trucks were reportedly coming from Amuru District and the Oraba border point in Koboko District in the West Nile Sub-region.
He said the suspects were being held at Nwoya Central Police Station and would be taken to court after investigations. Security and environmental officials have also reported that some dealers have relocated charcoal production to West Nile, including areas across the border in South Sudan, before transporting the charcoal into Uganda.
The dealers allegedly present the charcoal as an import from South Sudan, arguing that it is not covered by the ban on commercial charcoal production in Northern Uganda.
The development highlights the increasingly regional nature of the charcoal trade, with Northern Uganda serving as a production, transit and trading area within a wider market that also involves South Sudan. But enforcement efforts have also come under scrutiny.
Eriya Ssenyonyi, the National Chairperson of the Uganda Charcoal Traders Association, has previously accused some law enforcement officers of facilitating the illegal trade by allegedly taking bribes from charcoal dealers.
The allegations have not been independently verified. Col. Gai Fraser Mpadwa, the Deputy Commander of the UPDF Fifth Infantry Division, said the continued destruction of forests for charcoal threatens agriculture and food security in Northern Uganda.
“You may make money today by cutting down trees, but when trees are gone, the consequences are degraded land, declining agricultural productivity, loss of water points or water sources, and increased environmental problems,” Mpadwa said.
Mpadwa said security agencies had continued to intercept charcoal dealers despite repeated warnings and had resorted to retaining some impounded trucks for longer periods to disrupt the businesses of repeat offenders.
He urged charcoal traders and communities to shift to lawful and sustainable economic activities, including tree planting.
“I would encourage you and the community to pursue lawful and sustainable economic activities. We should not only stop at destroying our environment, but we must actively restore what has already been degraded,” Mpadwa said.
The continued enforcement comes against a backdrop of concern over forest loss in Northern Uganda and neighbouring South Sudan, where charcoal remains an important source of income and energy but is also driving pressure on natural forests.
Data from Global Forest Watch shows that Yumbe District had about 55,000 hectares of natural forest in 2020, covering approximately 24 percent of its land area.
The district lost about 250 hectares of tree cover between 2020 and 2025. The authorities now say repeated violations of the charcoal ban will attract increasingly severe penalties, including the possible auctioning of vehicles used by repeat offenders-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
