Bad policies affecting local participation in oil sector
Kasemene 2 oil drilling grounds in Buliisa District. PHOTO BY RACHAEL MABALA
Kampala- Without good governance, Uganda and other regional countries will not benefit from the opportunities that the oil resource presents, sector analysts have said.
Mr Elijah Dickens Mushemeza, a senior research fellow with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (Acode), believe that for the population to make a mark in the sector, good governance must be guaranteed across the East African region.
Speaking at the regional dialogue on land, biodiversity conservation and extractives in Kampala recently, Mr Mushemeza, said: “Good governance is critical. Without it, the things that matter will not be done. We need governments that will invest in the right infrastructure and ensure corruption is fought.”
He continued: “Without investing in proper infrastructures and bringing an end to endemic corruption, local content (participation) will not be achieved and our economies will be the losers.”
Enforcing policies
He added that Uganda and other regional states should enforce policies and legislation on local participation (where locals are deliberately prepared to partake opportunities the sector presents) as well as making specific laws rather than scattered ones that do not enhance local content or participation.
In her remarks, Ms Racheal Juma, representing the Oil, Natural Gas and Environmental Alliance, the largest national coalition of civil societies involved in natural gas and environmental advocacy in Tanzania, said there is need for ethical leadership in the region.
She said: “We still have issues of good governance and ethical leadership. The oil and gas sector has been hijacked by politicians and individuals, most of whom have no knowledge of how to run the sector, let alone understand it.”
She continued: “As a region we must own our resources and it shouldn’t be the international companies or self-centred individuals whose agenda contrasts the one of the regional population.”
Ms Juma also questioned the loyalty of the regional governments, asking how much they value her own people, claiming that there is a tendency by these governments to side with the multinationals at the expense of the local population.
In an interview, the Acode deputy executive director, Mr Onesmus Mugyenyi, said without good governance, the oil resource could turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing.
He said good governance is about accountability, transparency and instituting as well as defending pro-people policies.
