In May this year President Museveni signed an executive order banning commercial charcoal production in a move to save the environment.
The directive is yet to settle in people’s minds due to the strong attachment to charcoal as the ultimate source of energy for cooking.
Mbale charcoal dealers scramble for every piece of charcoal that is smuggled in by long distance traders and they have to pay extra to motivate those who brave the security checkpoints all the way from the source in Northern and North Eastern Uganda as Leah Nambozo explains.
"The distributors tell us that they go through much trouble including being arrested and paying huge fines along the way, even the quality of charcoal is very poor,” Nambozo says.
Masheti Paul, the LC1 chairperson for Mission Road Cell says, "The charcoal ban is benefiting charcoal dealers and law enforcers"
According to Nambozo the bag of charcoal has doubled from shs40,000 to shs80,000 as the extra cost is slapped on the end users making charcoal unfordable to majority.
Several households in Mbale city are struggling to cope with the new normal due to the exorbitant cost of charcoal.
“Charcoal for shs2000 cannot prepare a single meal as it used to. We have therefore resorted to eating a single meal a day to save charcoal for the next day,” Sarah Neumbe says.
Irene Namakambo says she has resorted to use of firewood.
Mukobe Sarah asked government to intervene.
Muduwa Hawa a resident of Mission Cell says she has opted for a traditional triple stone cook stove to suit her budget.
She says she needs charcoal worth shs5,000 daily to prepare meals for the family of eight compared to shs3,000 on firewood.
"We used to buy three pieces of firewood at shs1000 buy now two pieces go for shs1000. This is however cheaper than charcoal."
Jamal Godi an environmentalist from the Department of Geography at Islamic University in Uganda has called for promotion of alternative sources of energy and ecofriendly technologies.
“The ban on charcoal was long overdue but there were no transitional plan.”
Hellen Jabi a resident of Bugema B cell explains the efficiency of an energy-saving stove that she says needs firewood for shs 1000 to prepare all the day’s meals including breakfast, lunch and super compared to shs4000 using charcoal on a normal cookstove.
"The good thing is that it does not emit smoke like the old three stone cookstove.”
Bernard Jabi, a sales agent says the stoves have been subsidized for low-income earners majority of who rely on firewood and charcoal.
He adds that the stoves come with a serial number which is used for traceability to avoid inflation of price by sale agents.
"It has put on promotion of shs30,000 but its real price is around 180,000 shillings."
The stoves vary in cost, design and features depending on the supplier.
The cookstoves cost between shs180,000 to shs550,000 depending on the features and the supplier.
However, suppliers have adjusted the rates and payment terms to ensure universal access.
Francis Ochen another resident of Bugema "B" village who has used a solar powered biomass cook stove for two months said the technology has saved the family a great deal "because where you would use a basin of charcoal in two or three days, here you can use that basin for almost in a month. It is also faster and it gives you food which does not smell smoke."
Jabi says he procured the stove from a local agent at shs550,000 on loan where he parted with an initial deposit of shs150,000 and the balance payable in 11 months in instalments of shs45000 per month.
The stove uses all types of fuel including firewood, charcoal, briquettes, and maize cobs among others.
It is also enhanced with a solar-powered fun to quicken the cooking and eliminate smoke.
Unfortunately, the energy efficient stoves are out of supply due to overwhelming demand.
On the other hand, cooking using electricity is an option that remains alien to the majority of Ugandans due to cost and safety myths.
However, there is an ongoing campaign by UMEME and the government of Uganda to encourage the use of electricity for cooking through discounted rates.
The rates are set quarterly by the Electricity Regulatory Authority as UMEME spokesperson Peter Kaujju explains.
"The first 15 units cost shs250 (for universal lighting), the next 65 cost shs806 and the next 70units (cooking category)shs405,” Kaujju says.
This means, one needs shs78,000 shillings (equivalent of a bag of charcoal) instead of shs120,000 to purchase 150 units of power.
This is an average of 5 units at shs2,600 per day.
A modest hotplate consumes one unit of electricity per hour.
Kaujju further revealed that UMEME is working with Makerere University and other partners to promote use of electricity pressure cookers in in contribution to the clean energy and climate change agenda.
Ali Abed Tamim a businessman and a resident of senior quarters in Mbale city is one of those who have embraced cooking on electricity and says he consumes three units of electricity approximately amounting to shs2,000 daily for both cooking and other applications.
"At the time of cooking we ensure that other appliances are off. For instance, we don’t keep the fridge on throughout the cooking.”
Tamim explains that he switched from gas to electricity due to the lump sum amount required to refill his cylinder compared to power which he loads in bits.
He believes it is time to shift in the cooking culture where people cook less energy consuming foods or avoid the traditional way of keeping food on fire longer to attain the required aroma