uganda csos government asks concerning the oil development in the albertine rift region

8/3/2019 Uganda Csos Government Asks concerning the Oil development in the Albertine Rift Region

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Compiled by WWF Uganda Country Office, P. O. Box, 8758, Kampala, Plot 2 Sturrock Road Kololo ‐ Tel: +256 (0) 414 540064/65, Fax: +256 (0) 414

Email: [email protected]; Web: www.panda.org/earpo

“Our 12 Government Asks”

What is it that civil society would like government and the

private sector to do to ensure petroleum development creates

lasting value to Uganda’s society?

The development of Uganda’s petroleum resources presents our nation with a great

opportunity and a significant challenge. The World Bank observes if petroleum revenues

are managed well they could double Uganda’s revenue within six to ten years and at its

peak will constitute nearly 1 of every 4 parts of the total market value of all final goods

and services produced in Uganda (gross domestic product) every year.1 On the other

hand, if not managed well, petroleum development could be associated economicinstability, social conflict and lasting environmental damage.

WWF Uganda Country Office together with its civil society partners in the Albertine Rift

have agreed on the following government asks (key issues) or needs required of

government and private sector in petroleum development. These issues communicate

our shared concerns to the petroleum industry, government and the communities

where we operate. We believe that if these issues are well addressed, a firm basis will

be laid to achieve Uganda’s aspirations from petroleum development as well

summarized in reflected in the goal of the National Oil and Gas Policy that seeks “to use

the country’s oil and gas resources to contribute to early achievement of poverty

eradication and create lasting value to society.”

1World Bank, Country Assistance Strategy for the Period FY 2011-2015, 2010, p.60.

Preamble:

UCO

2011





These government asks as summarized below reflect the key concerns and issues as

raised by 24 organizations that represented the three regional civil society networks on

environment and petroleum in the Albertine Rift. These issues were generated during a

series of consultative meetings held in the Albertine region (Kasese, Hoima and Nebbi)

by WWF UCO between 21st and 26th February, 2011. These issues will also continuouslyguide CSO members and partners towards constructive engagement to facilitate safe,

environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and economically viable petroleum

development practices. The issues/concerns are specified as follows;

1. Regular and easy access to relevant information from decision‐makers should be provided

in relation to petroleum development in Uganda. Such information should be

communicated using popular media channels such as community meetings and radio and

must be translated into local languages. This would enable the management of public

perceptions.

2. Transparency and accountability are important for government and private sector to

secure the social license to operate. Without addressing these two important issues, CSOs

and the communities are left to speculate which could lead to negative perceptions that will

be hard to reverse in the end. Government should make public the contents of Production

Sharing Agreements public so that civil society and the Ugandan public can hold them

accountable to the commitments they made therein regarding social, environmental and

economic aspects associated with petroleum development.

3. Equitable compensation regimes should be formulated to ensure that affected

communities seek alternative livelihoods incase of affected assets and properties. Currentregimes based on local government compensation rates are disadvantageous and leave

affected local communities worse off. We recommend that since petroleum development is

only expected for two decades (20 years) local communities should not be dispossessed of

their land but instead land should be leased from them and decent monthly/annual

premiums paid to them until such a time when petroleum development activities are

finished. Where individuals or communities seek to sale their properties, compensation





mechanisms should take into the long‐term nature of land assets and decent compensation

remunerations should be paid out, whenever possible, house for better house, land for

better land should be the basis for such compensation.

4. Proper management of environmental and social impacts associated with petroleum is a

prerequisite to sustainable development of the affected areas. Compliance certificates,

which are issued to private companies upon

approving Environmental Impact

Assessments, should be made accessible

to CSOs to enable better compliance

monitoring and reporting to the lead

agencies. On the other hand, oil

companies must be encouraged to offset

their negative impacts in the Albertine

Rift by restoring degraded ecosystems

such as wetlands, forests, andagricultural lands. Problem animals and

compensation regimes associated with

such incidents must also be managed.

Members would also like to urge

government to expedite the necessary policies and legislations required for effective

management of environmental and social impacts from petroleum development.

5. Balance environmental, economic and social factors for sustainability. Deliberate measures

must be undertaken to ensure a sustainable balance between environmental, economic and

social outcomes of petroleum development in the Albertine Rift.

6. Urgent measures must be put in place to manage political interference and corruption

within the petroleum sector and other arms of government. CSOs are concerned about the

growing political interference in the development process of Uganda. In recent times Uganda

has witnessed some of the most gross abuses of public offices and unparallel levels of

corruption. For example the Ushs 5 million ( USD$2500) which was paid to each member of

parliament (MP) ahead of the parliamentary decision to remove presidential term limits; the

embezzlement of the Global and GAVI Funds, the Temangalo saga and the CHOGM Scandal

and perhaps more recently the questionable deposit of Ushs 20 Million (approx.

USD$10,000) into the accounts of all Members of Parliament ahead of the February 2011

presidential and parliamentary elections. This corruption trend sets a very worrying

precedent for the management of petroleum proceeds. Political ambitions and aspirations

must be separated from technical decisions made in the petroleum development.

Government must seek to establish institutions, develop policies and legislations that will

outlast any given political regime or establishment of the day. This can be done achieved

through ensuring the establishment of greater transparency, accountability and in‐building

mechanism for wider public consultation in all decision‐making processes associated with





petroleum development in Uganda.

7. I) Proper revenue sharing and management of proceeds from petroleum development.

Government must come up clearly with revenue sharing arrangements between all the

stakeholders involved. Equitable sharing arrangements must accrue to central and local

government entities, host communities, cultural institutions and other stakeholders with a

direct stake on the resource. Overall petroleum revenues must be used to spur development

by reinvesting in infrastructure and sustainable production sectors such as agriculture,

renewable energy (e.g. hydro‐power, solar and geothermal) and human capital development

(schools, health centres, and technical skills development among others).

ii) Intergenerational equity must guide the use of petroleum proceeds. Civil socie ty

recognize that Ugandans of this generation have a right and an obligation to use Uganda’s

petroleum resources in ways that benefit them but without compromising the capacity of

future generations to benefit from Uganda’s natural resources. Government must therefore

manage petroleum proceeds cognizant of this fact and set aside some of the proceeds to,

through a Future Fund to benefit the future generation of Ugandans.

8. Community/civil society participation and consultation should be enhanced. We

acknowledge the ongoing process of developing a Communication Strategy for petroleum by

the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. However we note that the document as is

reflected by previous government actions does not sufficiently recognize the importance of

community participation and consultation in the petroleum development process. We call

upon government to ensure that community views are sought early in the decision‐making

process and that government provides adequate and widespread feedback on how

community views and opinions have been integrated into the final decisions. This will

strengthen the level of trust and avoid unnecessary mistrust of government intentionsregarding petroleum development.

9. Use Strategic Environmental Assessments to ensure minimal impacts of petroleum

development on the Albertine Rift. We note that Uganda’s petroleum development is taking

place in the Albertine Rift which is Africa’s most pristine and most important biologically

diverse area. The area also contains nearly 70% of Uganda’s protected areas and has been

supporting the livelihood of many poor communities for thousands of years. Within the

planned 20 years of petroleum development, we must ensure that it does not compromise

the integrity of this important area. A Strategic Environment Assessment is an important

high‐level decision‐making tool to ensuring that petroleum development activities do not

undermine socio‐economic and biodiversity conservation activities. Government must

ensure that this process is undertaken to ensure that it plays its rightful role in guiding

petroleum development; establishing “no‐go” areas.

10. Create an enabling environment for effective CSO’s engagement: CSO representatives call

on government to integrate civil society partners in the development and implementation of

social, environmental and economic policies related to petroleum development in Uganda.





Government should include in their ongoing capacity building efforts in petroleum

development. This will enable civil society organizations to effectively serve as credible and

useful partners in the successful development of petroleum development in Uganda.

11. There is an urgent need to strengthen the policy, legal and institutional framework

especially at the local government level. We do commend the government efforts to halt

any new licensing until the Petroleum resource law has been approved and passed.

Nonetheless, we observe that the pace of petroleum development seems to have outrun the

capacity of mandated institutions to respond to the whole suite of issues, challenges and

opportunities that petroleum development presents. While national institutions are

relatively well placed to handle these issues, local governments and local communities are

not properly prepared to meet these issues. The planned Extended Well Testing (EWT),

refinery and field development activities are coming into a context of weak district local

government institutions and local communities, which are not well informed of how they will

benefit, lose or otherwise affected by such development. Local government institutions, civil

society and grass‐root communities must be prioritized in any planned capacity building workrelating to petroleum development. Civil society also observe the low levels of coordination

amongst government agencies marked by the low participation of key government actors

such as Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Wetlands Management

Department among others.

12. Government and private sector should seek to harmonize Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR) activities with communities’ development priorities. While recognizing that CSR is

not obligatory, we acknowledge that it’s an important vehicle for the petroleum private

sector to secure a social license to operate. As such CSR practice should contribute to the

long‐term development aspirations of the affected communities. We recommend thatgovernment closely works with the private sector to ensure that any CSR decisions/activities

implemented are done in consultation with local communities and civil society organizations

affected.





The following civil society organizations have subscribed to these “12 Government Asks” above;

SOUTH ALBERTINE CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION ON OIL AND GAS

Organization Name District1. New Eden Christian Foundation (NECF) Kasese

2. Goodhope Foundation For Rural Development (GHFRD) Kasese

3. Karambi Action For Life Improvement (KALI) Kasese

4. Rukungiri Gender And Development Association (RUGADA) Rukungiri

5. Bunyaruguru Community Based Trainers’ Association ( BOCOBATA) Rubirizi

6. Kicwamba Conservation Farmers’association (KICOFA) Rubirizi

7. Kinkiizi Integrated Rural Development Programme (KIRDP) Kanungu

8. Kanungu District NGO/CBO Forum Kanungu

9. Literacy Action And Development Agency (LADA) Rukungiri

10. Rwenkuba Hills Conservation Association (RHCA) Rukungiri

NORTHERN ALBERTINE CIVIL SOCIETY NETWORK ON ENVIRONMENT AND PETROLEUM

Organization Name District

11. The African PACT Arua/Nwoya

12. Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment (RICE) Arua

13. Life Concern (LICO) Zombo

14. Nebbi NGO forum Nebbi

15. Arua District NGO Network (ADINGON) Arua

16. Yumbe NGO Forum Yumbe

17. PRAFORD (Write them in full) Yumbe

18. MAYANK (Write them in full) Anti‐Corruption Network Arua

19. Nwoya District Local Government Nwoya

BUNYORO ALBERTINE PETROLEUM NETWORK ON ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION:

Organization Name District

20. Buliisa Catholic Womens’ Association (BUCAWA) Buliisa

21. Community Development and Conservation Agency (CODECA) Masindi

22. KIbaale Civil Society Network (KCSON) Kibaale

23. Lake Albert Children/Women Advocacy and Development Organization(LACWADO)

Buliisa

24. Masindi District NGO Forum (MDNF) Masindi

25. Mid‐Western Region Anti‐Corruption Coalition (MIRAC) Hoima

26. Mid‐Western Region Center for Democracy and Human Rights (MICOD) Hoima

27. Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme (URDT) Kibaale





For details contact:

WWF Uganda Country Office,

P. O. Box, 8758, Kampala,

Plot 2 Sturrock Road Kololo ‐ Tel: +256 (0) 414 540064/65,

Fax: +256 (0) 414 531 166,


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.panda.org/earpo

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.panda.org/earpo

uganda csos government asks concerning the oil development in the albertine rift region

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