UGANDA PEOPLES CONGRESS

NATIONAL SECRETARIAT

Plot 8-10 Kampala Road, Uganda House, P.o Box 9206, kampala, phone/fax: +256-41-236748

12/07/2006                               

PRESS STATEMENT

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT OF OIL RESOURCES FOR THE NATION.

1. The Uganda Peoples Congress welcomes the discovery of oil resources in our motherland. We note that there were attempts to explore oil during the first and the second UPC administrations.

2. UPC is however seriously concerned with the activities surrounding the management of the process in exploring these abundant resources. The reported signing of the 2001 production sharing agreement between the Ugandan government and Australian/UK based oil exploration companies' raises issues of transparency and accountability

3. We are aware of the fact that the discovery of oil in many African countries has always been a double edged sword and led to the springing up of mafia groups who normally collude with the ruling click to siphon off the oil revenue without caring for the population. UPC urges the Ugandan government to urgently establish the Uganda Petroleum Commission that will:

(a) study how oil is managed in other oil producing countries and recommend policies to the government.

(b) engage all citizens in open and constructive debate pertaining to the exploration and management of oil revenues.

(c) engage NEMA and other environmental bodies to study the environmental impact of the oil exploration and avoid environmental disasters being experienced by other oil producing countries.

4. The Parliament of the Republic of Uganda in particular, the legal committee should be involved in critically studying the different environmental laws, Local Government Act, the Land Act, the Regional Tier Bill and see how to reconcile the different aspects so as to facilitate, protect and enhance the different interests of Ugandans and exploration companies in order to reduce and control criminal activities..

5. The out cry of the Banyoro indigenous community and any other community on whose land the oil resources will be extracted should not be ignored. The oil exploration companies should not forget their corporate social responsibility to the communities on whose land the oil is extracted. Responsibilities like construction of roads, hospitals, schools, offering of bursaries, water and sanitation and any support to the community must be part of the process. This is would create harmony and avoid situations like what happened to the Ogoni people of Nigeria who felt excluded from the benefits of oil exploitation in their land. This has led to several clashes between them, the government and the oil companies.

6. UPC calls upon the NRM government to use this as an opportunity to promote economic development, Stability, improve standard of living, and address the challenges of poverty and social well fare programs. The NRM government known for it's philosophy and ideology of investing heavily in war industry must not use oil to build and expand military industries, or create situation that might lead to internal and external wars or indulge further in obscene and opulent consumption by government leaders.Instead,oil revenue should and must be use to help uplift standards of living of fellow  country men, improve infrastructures and boost other sectors of the economy like agriculture, education, health and build a sustainable prosperous economy.

7. The Uganda Peoples Congress is known for competent management of resources for this country and a positive track record for service deliveries that transformed and bettered the lives of Ugandans. Even without oil, our nation economic progress was tremendous during our regimes. Clean leadership, nationalism, patriotism, national unity sound policies with clear formulas for equitable wealth distributions and discipline in managing state affairs are our guiding principles. It's not too late for the NRM government to learn from UPC.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY 

MAMA MIRIA KALULE OBOTE

PARTY PRESIDENT