Moses Mosing had just received some Ushs1.5m from a colleague in Kololo. On his way home he realised he did not have enough fuel. At Shell City, is where he lost it all.
Mosing now wants to sue Shell/Vivo Energy Uganda over failure to keep their business premises secure for their customers.
“After a long consideration I decided to talk to my lawyers about it. I am considering the option of suing them [Shell/Vivo], ” Mosing said.
Mosing’s wallet was reportedly snatched from his hands by a motorcyclist as he pulled out money to pay a pump attendant.
“My car engine went off just before I got to the pump. I requested for four litters of petro that was put into the Jerrycan so that I could restart the car. However, when I was paying the fuel attendant, a person on a motor bike coming from the direction of the fuel station exit grabbed and made off with my wallet that had Ushs1.5m, medical card, ATM cards, company ID, and shopping cards,” Mosing told The Sunrise in a statement. The incident occurred on March 4, 2015.
Mosing said he tried to seek help from the attendant, only identified as Amon, and the supervisor, but they could not do much.
“They gave me a number of a lady to call but when I talked to her she blatantly informed me that they were not going to help me in anyway,” Mosing said. “A day after I contacted an old friend working at Shell/VIVO Headquarters who tried to link me up with the regional manager but in vain. She later informed me that it was unlikely I would be compensated, and I would not get any CCTV footage.”
Mosing’s case is registered at the Central Police Station (CPC) file number 74/4/3/2015.
“As customers we expect protection while at the facility of service providers like Shell/VIVO, or at the very least expect some remorse in situations like that. In my case, except for the friend I contacted, no one from Shell/VIVO formally contacted me to get my story,” Mosing said.
The station manager, Susan Nyatia, said she was away when the incident occurred but received a brief from the pump attendant, Amon, whom she said was no longer working at the station.
“What I was told was that the attendant was serving another customer at another pump and only heard this customer saying ‘banzibye’ (I have been robbed) as the cyclist sped away. He did not make a loud alarm. Maybe our security would have followed with a motor cycle,” Nyatia said.
In his statement, Mosing wondered whether the shift from Shell to Vivo had some effect on customer service.
“Is the shift to VIVO affecting the service delivery of a global company? Have other people been robbed from the station? Are we going to have similar occurrences in future?” He asked.
The Corporate Communications Manager VIVO Energy Uganda, Cerinah Zalwango, confirmed that there was a reported incident of theft similar to the circumstances described.
“We understand that this matter has been rightly reported to the police who are mandated to investigate and follow up on crimes of this nature. We are keen to establish from the police investigations the details necessary to bring this matter to a conclusion,” Zalwango said.
Vivo Energy is the company behind the Shell brand in Africa and is jointly owned by Vitol, Helios Investment Partners and Shell, according to the Vivo website.
In Uganda it operates under the name Vivo Energy Uganda, established in 2013. The Shell brand has been in Uganda for over 60 years.
