A whistleblower has written to the Inspector General of Government, claiming that the process to recruit the Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda National Oil Company is fraught with irregularities.
According to the complainant, several people who applied for the post and had the requisite qualifications were omitted from the shortlist, in preference for those working in the Petroleum Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development.
‘Your Lordship, the UNOC advertised for several (position) sic including the CEO of the company. We applied according to the criteria laid out in the advert attached hereby,’ the petition dated April 20 and copied to the Ministry of Finance and that of Energy and Mineral Development reads in part. The petition was received by the three addressees on April 25.
According to the petitioner, candidates for the job were required to have a Masters Degree in Engineering, Economic(s), Law, Business Administration, Finance and Petroleum Geosciences, with a minimum of 15 years’ experience, ‘ten (10 years) of which must have been in a senior position in a busy or successful company or organization. Experience in the petroleum industry is an added advantage.’
The petitioner further imputes that the set criteria was not followed and also seeks to know whether the UNOC Board of Directors approved the final shortlist.
Efforts to get comment from the energy ministry Permanent Secretary Kabagambe Kalisa were futile by press time as he was attending a meeting.
The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), also known as the National Oil Company of Uganda, is a limited liability petroleum company owned by the Uganda Government and established under the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Act, 2013 of Uganda. Its board of directors chaired by businessman Emmanuel Katongole was inaugurated on October 23, 2015 by President Yoweri Museveni.
Other Board members include Francis Nagimesi, a former chief executive officer of the defunct Coffee Marketing Board of Uganda; Francis Twinamatsiko, a principal economist in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development; Grace Tibwita Bagaaya, a physical planner; Irene Pauline Batebe, a chemical/refinery engineer in the Petroleum Directorate of Uganda; Godfrey Andama, a senior geoscientist; and Stella Marie Biwaga, a lawyer.
