By RWI Capacity Advancement fellows (2008-2009) Sophie Kutegeka and Nelly Busingye
Uganda's nascent oil sector has taken important steps during 2009. Early production was initially scheduled to begin in June, but was postponed after the discovery of additional reserves and the announcement of tentative plans for a new government refinery that could produce heavy fuel oil for electricity generation. (The government is currently seeking potential investors.) In the legislative realm, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has been shaping a framework to implement the National Oil and Gas policy enacted in January, 2008. This framework is still under discussion in the cabinet.
While the momentum of government activity is slowed due to these events, Ugandan civil society organizations are taking advantage of the delay to foster greater community awareness about how to engage with the government agencies and oil companies to promote better governance of the new oil sector.
To this end, a number of civil society groups have conducted public meetings, especially in the Albertine Graben, Uganda's oil region, to increase awareness, advocacy and debate. In recent months, media coverage of oil issues has increased, including discussions on radio, TV and in newspapers. However, this increasing public awareness has increased tensions between government and civil society.
In July, Engineer Hilary Onek, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, delivered a veiled accusation against civil society groups, warning NGOs in Uganda not to mislead the public about the ongoing oil exploration. Civil society groups considered these remarks uncalled for, considering the number of resource-rich African countries that suffer economic and social stagnation despite their substantial resource revenues. Onek's statement also came at a time when NGOs working in the oil sector face many challenges, including limited access to government information and delays in formulating and implementing legal and policy frameworks.
However, evan as the remarks indicate new pressure on the NGOs, they also reveal that Uganda's government is feeling the impact of NGO advocacy. This level of advocacy is in keeping with the intentions of the National Oil and Gas policy; Objective 7 of the policy aims to ensure optimum national participation in oil and gas exploration, production and decision-making. One of the tools in this effort is active civil society engagement in helping to build a productive, vibrant and transparent oil and gas sector. Minister Onek's remarks undermine this policy objective and signal an obvious lack of government commitment to bolstering public participation.
Despite Onek's warning, civil society groups have sought to strengthen their role in the oil and gas sector and build public capacity to demand government transparency and accountability. Organizations like Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) and Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) are addressing issues of good natural resource governance through research, sensitization and training workshops in Uganda's oil-producing region. Civil society groups have mobilized and formed coalitions to better impact and influence decisions concerning the oil and gas sector. Key coalitions include Uganda Publish What You Pay and the Uganda Civil Society Coalition on Oil, which have come together to demand that the government develop transparent processes.
With funding from the Revenue Watch Institute, and help from RWI capacity advancement fellows Sophie Kutegeka, of ACODE, and Nelly Busingye, of AFIEGO, ACODE and AFIEGO are organizing workshops in the Albertain Region and Kampala on the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and contract transparency. The workshops are geared to empower community groups, local government, civil society, national government officials, members of parliament and the media to use EITI as a tool for promoting transparency and accountability, and educating participants about the relevance of contract transparency to Uganda's oil industry. The trainings are inspired by the research conducted during Kutegeka's and Busingye's six-month Revenue Watch fellowships in New York City in 2008-2009. The trainings will also help government officials understand the imperative of including NGOs alongside government and industry in a multi-stakeholder approach to oil sector governance in Uganda.
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