What you need to know:
- Out of the Shs872b at least Shs720b will go into oil financing, while the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the oil regulator and Ministry of Energy will receive Shs64b and Shs87.3b, respectively.
Government has allocated Shs872b in the 2022/23 Budget to oil related activities, which signals commitment towards going through the development phase to achieve first oil.
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija confirmed the allocation during the Budget Speech in which he said government had fulfilled its earlier commitment that had been made early this year.
The Shs872b will be shared with a number of oil-related government agencies, with Shs720b going into oil financing, while the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the oil regulator and Ministry of Energy taking Shs64b and Shs87.3b.
Construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), Mr Kasaija said, is expected to commence in the coming financial year while: “The capacity of the Uganda National Oil Capacity to invest in oil and gas development has also been enhanced”.
“While there have been negative campaigns against the development of the Crude Oil Pipeline, government will develop the country’s oil and gas resources in a responsible and sustainable manner for the benefit of all Ugandans,” he said.
Mr Kasaija also indicated that investments in the oil and gas sector had contributed significantly to the increase in private sector imports to $6.4b for the period ended April from $5b in the previous 12 months.
Uganda National Oil Company, which handles the state’s commercial interests in the petroleum sub-sector, holds a 15 percent participating interest as government’s nominee in the Petroleum Production Licences.
UNOC’s shareholding and capital structure include the Energy Ministry with 51 percent shares and the Finance Ministry with 49 percent shares.
At the 5th UNOC Annual General Meeting held at the end of April, Mr Kasaija had pledged to provide UNOC with the remaining equity for the oil pipeline and the refinery when it is due, reiterating that government is committed to ensuring UNOC is sufficiently funded as the country seeks first oil by 2025.
UNOC is also expected to undertake stocking of the 30 million litre Jinja Storage Terminal to enhance security of petroleum supply in Uganda.
Ms Proscovia Nabbanja, the UNOC chief executive, reaffirmed the need to capitalise the company by the shareholders.
Mr Peter Muliisa, the UNOC legal and corporate affairs manager, said the pipeline remains the key project that requires financing.
“We have been able to pay our cash calls from February after the final investment decision announcement, we should be able to exhaust that money we got last financial year probably in November, and the money provided for in this Financial Year should be able to kick in at the end of this year to help us meet cash calls for next year,” he said, noting that capital expenditure budget focuses on construction activities such as procuring and contracting a company for the installation of pipes, technical and environmental studies around the pipeline, and the compensation of people for pipeline land.
UNOC is expected to make a 15 percent contribution of the whole $3.5b capital expenditure on the pipeline project.
Fuel reserves
UNOC is working on a final proposal to receive financing for restocking of petroleum reserves in the Jinja Storage Terminal.
The 30 million-litre fuel storage facility is meant to hold national fuel reserves. By Paul Murungi, Daily Monitor
President Yoweri Museveni has blamed past leaders and colonialists for Uganda’s poverty, saying they “poisoned the minds’’ of hardworking farmers.
“When the colonials came here, they made our people grow the crops they wanted: cotton, tobacco, coffee, tea, and then our leaders just copied what the colonialists told them...So, when I studied the issue, I could see danger, number one was only working for the stomach.
“They (locals) must work for the stomach and the pocket. But secondly, even the ones who are working for the pocket do so without cura (calculations). That is how you get West Nile growing tobacco. If you grow tobacco on one acre, you will never get out of poverty…” he said.
Mr Museveni made the remarks while addressing leaders from the Acholi and Lango sub-regions at Baralegi State Lodge in Otuke District on Saturday.
The President encouraged poverty-stricken Ugandans to carefully select good enterprises such as coffee, fruits, dairy cows, poultry, piggery, and fish farming.
“You should select enterprises which have a big demand within Uganda, Africa and internationally,” Mr Museveni said.
He also told farmers that vanilla has a good market, but the people who were promoting it didn’t check the global demand. “So, when our people rushed there, production was big, the price collapsed.”
Poverty levels
In the first half of 2021, Uganda’s Ministry of Finance reported that 28 percent of Ugandans were poor. In line with World Bank practice, the official poverty line is the equivalent of $1.90 purchasing power per day and head. The ministry also noted that two thirds of Ugandans had lost at least some income due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Extreme poverty data reveals that northern and eastern parts of Uganda have higher poverty headcounts than the other parts of the country.
This was echoed by the Acholi Parliamentary Group while meeting the President on Saturday. The government of Uganda estimates that poverty numbers, according to the national poverty line, could increase by 2.6 million people (source: Development Initiatives). - DAILY MONITOR
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Wiper Democratic Movement Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka has promised to have Machakos Wiper governorship candidate Wavinya Ndeti and Chama Cha Uzalendo candidate Nzioka Waita agree on who should step down for whom.
This, as it was clear who his preferred candidate was.
Kalonzo was speaking during Azimio La Umoja Coalition public rally addressed by Presidential Candidate Raila Odinga at Masinga in Machakos County yesterday (Sunday).
He said that he would speak to Waita to step down for Wavinya since she is the most popular candidate on the ground.
He urged Waita not to emulate Kavaluku’s political strategies. [Kavaluku (Rabbit) is the nickname for the outgoing Governor Alfred Mutua in reference to his shifting and, at times, bewildering political moves].t two general elections emerging second behind Governor Alfred Mutua and that if no agreement is reached, the seat might go to Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
“I will be reaching out to my sister Wavinya Ndeti and my brother Nzioka Waita so that they reach an agreement for one of them to go for the Machakos Governorship seat. We cannot afford to lose the Machakos governorship due to friendly fire,” said Kalonzo.
Wavinya served as Kathiani MP after being elected in the 2007 general election and served as an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Youth Affairs. After losing to Mutua in the 2017 election, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed her as the Chief Administrative Secretary in the Ministry of Transport.
She resigned recently to run for Machakos governor.
Waita served as State House Chief of Staff and Head of Presidential Delivery Unit before resigning to vie for Machakos Governorship seat. He previously worked as Corporate Affairs Director at Safaricom Limited which he joined in 2001 as a legal officer.
The former Vice President said that the Wiper Democratic Party had fielded strong candidates for various seats in Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties and would be leading talks among the Azimio Coalition parties to ensure that they identified the most popular candidates to run.
Kalonzo said that the Kamba nation needed to speak with one voice in order to have a formidable bargaining power should Azimio form the next government since he had carried out fruitful negotiations where community interests are well catered for.
He dismissed leaders from the Akamba community who were “misleading” the locals to support Kenya Kwanza Alliance which he said did not have any interests of the community. By Edwin Nyarangi, The Standard.
There was panic at Workers House on Monday evening after a fire alarm went off shortly after the signing of an MOU between the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the United Kingdom High Commissioner to Uganda Kate Airey to establish a virtual academy for prosecutors.
The MOU followed a request by DPP’s office to the UK government for technical assistance to design and deliver an online platform for prosecutors to build their capacity in order to effectively and efficiently manage criminal matters. However, the fire alarm went off while officials were entertaining questions from the media, sending panic amongst the attendees.
This prompted the DPP, Jane Frances Abodo to apologize and order whoever was in the meeting on the 12th floor to vacate the building using the stairs. Security officers immediately evacuated the DPP and the UK officials. The remaining people also vacated the 14-floor building via the stairs.
There was utter confusion on the stairs as people including expectant mothers and guests who had come to various offices ran for their lives and assembled in front of the building to ascertain what was going on. Later, a man wearing a reflector jacket branded Workers House Fire Marshal told the dozens of people who looked scared that one of the capacitors of the fan on the ninth floor had burnt but didn’t affect anything.
Some security personnel told URN that the fire alarm was triggered by burnt wires in the air conditioning systems on the 11th floor. The security later told the people who were gathered outside to return to the building.
The fire scare has come at a time when the country has registered several fire outbreaks mostly in schools and offices without any conclusive report. - URN/The Observer
Asylum Aid had gone to Court of Appeal in the UK to stop the deportations of refugees from the UK to Rwanda. The case has started in London and many wait to hear the final word and last decision to determine whether the first group of 31 refugees will be deported to Rwanda from the UK.
Royal Court of Justice is hearing from the case, the legal challenge to block the British government's controversial policy to deport refugees to Rwanda. Charities against the deportation have called the policy, immoral, dangerous and inhuman and want it stopped.
The move to deport asylum seekers from the UK to Rwanda has also been condemned by UNHCR. Under the policy, all those who arrive in the UK illegally will be given one way ticket to Rwanda for processing and settlement.
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