21-08-05 Under the dull evening sky, on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) side of the road, a bare-chested man ploughs his garden with a hoe.
"Ngoni," we greet him in Lugbara.
"Muke," he replies and we continue our trek along the road that separates Uganda from the DRC.
The moment he sees our backs, he pulls out a mobile phone from the pocket of his trousers which are folded up almost to his knees, and warns whoever is on the other side of the line: "Angu dimuke ku," (It's not safe here). Within five minutes, the traffic on the road -- men and women riding bicycles laden with smuggled fuel -- thins, and then evaporates.

We are foreigners in this sensitive area that mostly thrives on smuggled fuel. Armed with a camera and travelling with The New Vision's Arua bureau chief, Frank Mugabi, and a guide, I am travelling along the road that separates Uganda and the DRC. We have registered at Odramachaku Police Station as journalists on a tour.
The road we are on starts from Lia border post,about 10 km from Arua town, passes through the busy town of Odramachaku and continues to Koboko. Numerous panya routes (trails) feed the main road. On the western side, these trails originate from the Congo while on the eastern side, they join the road from Uganda.

To beat the Uganda Revenue Protection Services (RPS) patrols, the smugglers use these panyas, which are dotted with informers. It does not come as a surprise therefore when we discover that we are being followed by two men. One is riding a sports bicycle while another is on a bodaboda. To throw them off our trail, we take the nearest path into the DRC. We stumble upon several smugglers transporting fuel to Uganda on bicycles.
The fuel is transported in many ways. Some of the smugglers conceal several 20-litre jerrycans in boxes and sacks while the foolhardy ones simply tie them on their bicycles and ride. The big-time smugglers use trucks. The smuggled fuel, thousands of litres of it, is openly and cheaply sold in markets, kiosks and on the streets of all the major towns in West Nile, with Arua town the most famous, or infamous, of all.

The OPEC Boys, as the fuel dealers are called in Arua, have been in the business for several years and will probably remain active for more time to come. They are powerful and control a significant part of the region's economy. The OPEC Boys can influence the outcome of any election be it local, parliamentary or presidential. All politicians handle them with care.
The big difference in the prices of fuel in the DRC and Uganda is a big incentive for smuggling. A litre of petrol costs Sh 1,000 in the Congo compared to Sh 2,100 in Uganda. Diesel goes for Sh 800 in the DRC, and Sh 1,790 in Uganda.

According to a member of one of the several OPEC Boys' groups in Arua, the fuel is bought in drums from Congo and given to transporters who bring it in 20-litre jerrycans on bicycles. Each drum costs Sh 15,000 to transport.
"A drum (200 litres) takes one or two days to sell," the OPEC member says.
Asked how much they buy the fuel in Congo, he says a drum costs Sh 280,000. However, our investigations in the DRC establish the price at Sh 200,000 per drum. The OPEC Boys in Arua sell the fuel at between Sh 1,500 and Sh 1,700 for a litre of petrol and Sh 1,200 to Sh 1,500 per litre of diesel. Therefore, an OPEC dealer makes a net profit of Sh 98,500 to Sh 138,500 per drum of petrol and Sh 65,000 to Sh 125,000 per drum of diesel.

Interestingly, this fuel passes through Uganda in transit to the Congo. After it has crossed the border, it is smuggled back into the country to the chagrin of legitimate fuel dealers.
"Do not mention my name. I do not want the OPEC Boys to burn down my petrol station but the situation is bad. How can you make business by selling petrol at Sh 2,010 when cheap fuel of Sh 1,500 is all over town? We pay taxes and we do legitimate business but we are wondering how long this will go on," one petrol station operator laments.

Though there are many different OPEC Boys organisations in Arua like Top Ten, OPEC Silver, Quick Service and so on, each individual member does his own business transactions. The group only comes in to help if any of its members is arrested or loses a relative. The groups, complete with chairmen, treasurers and secretaries, were formed when the OPEC Boys hoped to get loans, quit the smuggling business and start legitimate dealings.
"We were disappointed to learn that we were going to be trained in vocational fields. We are still in the fuel business," our OPEC source says.

According to the Arua Resident District Commissioner, Alfred Omony Ogaba, the Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Programme is in the process of equipping the OPEC Boys with skills in vocations such as carpentry and metal work, with a view to taking them off the streets.
"That can't work. We have families to feed and we have no time to go to class. What we need is capital to do other businesses," says our OPEC source, whose group boasts 30 active members.

Though the fuel is sold openly, ittakes guts to smuggle it across the border. Though the RPS personnel are always on patrol, the OPEC Boys find ways to beat them at their own game.
The whole of West Nile, right from Nebbi, Paidha, Arua up to Koboko has over 300 illegal panya routes. In Arua, which has about 100 such routes, the RPS team has only one pick-up truck for patrols. It is therefore difficult to contain the smugglers, considering OPEC’s well-developed spying and surveillance system, where even a child you meet along the way is an informer for the smugglers.

Nevertheless, the anti-smuggling force occasionally scores some successes. According to one RPS official, an average of three drums of fuel are confiscated per day. At the Uganda Revenue Authority yard in Arua, a truck laden with 11 drums of fuel was seen that had been impounded by the RPS. However, if the smugglers are not caught in the act, they can openly sell the fuel.
"Once, they beat our patrols, we are under instructions not to confiscate the fuel already on salein town," the RPS personnel says.

It is obvious that the region gets preferential treatment compared with other border regions where smugglers are sometimes shot on the spot.
"Operations to crack down on OPEC Boys have been going on though we are aware that this group consists of people who lost out during the war. My office and the Government are trying to find a way to help them do legal business," Omony Ogaba says.

Whatever the Government does, it will not be targeting just the OPEC Boys, because the list of smuggled items in the region is long. The items include timber, Super Match cigarettes, Ugandan-made beer and electronics.
A crate of Uganda export beer costs Sh 18,000 to Sh 20,000 in Congo compared to Sh 29,600 in Uganda. It is not surprising that one can get a Bell beer at Sh 1,000 in some parts of West Nile.

A packet of smuggled Super Match cigarettes sells at Sh 1,000 alongside the taxed ones which go for Sh 1,500. Contraband Embassy cigarettes go for a mere Sh 1,500 compared to the usual price of Sh 2,500. It is a bit of a wonder how those doing legitimate business compete with the smugglers.
"Since the DRC is stabilising, taxation is going to be introduced and the prices will be the same," Ogaba says.

As we sip smuggled Primus beer next to a police station in Odramachaku, a stone's throw away from Congo, we see four fuel smugglers on bicycles pass behind the police station. We dash to the scene and the camera clicks before the invisible spies report our presence. From there, we travel along the main road separating Uganda from the Congo. It is here that a man who appears to be a peasant farmer warns of our presence, drying up the traffic.
It does not take us long to realise we are being followed before we head into the Congo. Along the way, we come face to face with more fuel transporters, some of them women. One man spots us from a distance and branches onto a different path. He curses his god when he eventually meets us on the same path. Click, our camera goes.

Eventually, the sun begins to fade and we retreat into mother country. The dying sun casts golden rays upon the bushes, the spies, the panya routes and the smugglers whose numbers seem to be multiplying with the setting of the sun.
Under the cover of darkness, some people grow richer.