UGANDA: Catholic Church Champions Dissemination of Information in Oil and Gas Sector
By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
The Catholic Church in Uganda has played a key role in the dissemination of information in regard to the management of the oil and gas sector in the country. This was said by Dr. Emmanuel Aliba Kiiza the National Coordinator of Uganda Catholic Justice and Peace Department during his presentation at the 2nd International Conference on Extractive industries in Africa.
In his presentation he said that the Catholic Church in Uganda has always played a mediation role thereby ensuring that all stakeholders in the sector are transparent so that the oil and gas would benefit all citizens. Dr. Aliba explained that the background of the Church’s involvement in promoting access to information and playing mediatory role began in 2009, a couple of years after oil and gas exploration had begun in Uganda.
“The National Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (NCCJP), with financial support from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), conducted a mini-survey entitled ‘The People’s Voice for Social Justice: The Impact of Investment Policies on the Security of the Citizens’ Lives and Property in Uganda. The purpose of the study was to inform the Catholic Bishops of Uganda on the salient issues affecting the local people living in the mining areas and thereafter propose the best ways of how the Bishops would intervene in bridging the identified gaps,” he explained.
The study revealed lack of accurate, timely and relevant information flow among the various stakeholders in the mining industry. Suspicion was rife among the stakeholders as well as fear for displacement among the local people. To quell the situation, the Catholic Church through NCCJP moved in swiftly to do the needful.
Among the activities they partook included playing a mediatory role that brought together the various national and local stakeholders to share information. This involved organizing many fora for information sharing. NCCJP also participated in the formulation of the oil and gas policy, the two Petroleum laws and the Public Finance Management Act. Finally, the department helped the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to translate the popular version of the oil and gas policy into the various major local languages spoken in Uganda.
However, Dr. Aliba said that more is yet to be done. For instance, the department would like to ensure that the levels of corruption are reduced in Uganda and the people affected by the different oil and gas activities are well attended to. He pointed out that in many cases, there is need to constantly support government efforts in the effective implementation of the oil and gas laws.
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