By Afiego, Witness Radio and Cefroht under the Hotspots program.
On June 12, 2023, during a Twitter space meeting hosted by Solomon Serwanja to discuss the Update on Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector. Gloria Mugambe head of Uganda National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) noted that Uganda has declined Shareholders Agreement (SHA) and the Tariffs and Transportation agreement (TTA) signed for the EACOP project exposed to the public.
It is noteworthy that the governments of Uganda and Tanzania together with Total to signed the Shareholders Agreement (SHA), Tariffs and Transportation agreement (TTA) for the EACOP project on April 2021.
Before this, in September 2020, the Ugandan government signed the Host Government Agreement (HGA) with the Tanzanian government for the EACOP project with Total E &P.
The signings were a major milestone that brought Uganda closer to producing crude oil and to economic prosperity. However, no information was provided to the public to understand what the contents of the HGA were.
This happened at a time when citizens were worried about the bad Environmental and Social Impact Assessments being approved without complete mitigation plans to manage the oil risks.
However, it’s now close to three years and the government of Uganda has never shared these agreements with the public despite several formal requests by some of the civil societies working to ensure that oil activities do not damage our biodiversity and violate citizens’ land rights.
It should be noted that these agreements help the public, civil societies, and political representatives like Members of Parliament have a clearer and more informed viewpoint.
It should be noted that failure to make these agreements public violates the EITI principles that the member states are obligated to follow in the extractives processes in the country.
It is notable that even before the signing ceremony, Ugandan parliamentarians, who are the people’s representatives, had noted in March 2021 that even they didn’t have access to the HGA, SHA, and TTA. This is unfortunate.
Worthy to note, in August 2020, the government of Uganda was officially admitted as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) member state to improve transparency and accountability in the management of extractives resources.
In her own comments after Uganda’s approval in joining the EITI community, EITI Board Chair, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, said: “EITI implementation can help lay the foundation for transparent and accountable management of the country’s natural resource wealth. We welcome Uganda as an implementing country and look forward to the EITI promoting inclusive public debate.”
Additionally, the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development representing Uganda, Matia Kasaija, said Uganda’s decision to join the EITI was informed by the appreciation of the value of transparency as we progress our plans to develop Uganda’s natural resource wealth, a clear indication that the government of Uganda had to adhere to the EITI standard.
The EITI standard encourages member states to publicly disclose any contracts and licenses that provide the terms attached to the exploitation of oil, gas, and minerals that are entered into.
Among the EITI principles violated include principles 6, 9, and 12 which demand for greater transparency for contracts and laws as well as involving the participation of citizens in the extractives sectors.
Therefore, the secrecy in oil and gas dealings has continued to compromise the efforts of environmental conservation and such activities have allowed oil projects to take place in critical biodiversity areas like forests, National Parks, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and other eco-sensitive areas that support agriculture, tourism, fisheries, employment and others.
Uganda/ Ministry Energy must make the Shareholders Agreement (SHA), Tariffs, and Transportation agreement public and present them to relevant stakeholders including parliament, CSOs, religious leaders, Uganda Law Society, and others as a sign of commitment to transparency by the government.
The Uganda EITI multi-stakeholder committee must demand disclosure of the agreements.
The government must ensure transparency at all levels of oil and gas processes including initiating, negotiating, signing, and implementing any decisions regarding the oil and gas projects in addition to oil revenues management.
