The Ministry of Energy and the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFEIGO), a non-governmental organisation based in Kampala are involved in counter accusations as the ministry today commissions the relocation of oil refinery affected families from Kabaaale-Buseruka to Kyakaboga, Hoima District.

Yesterday The Eagle Online published a story in which the General Secretary of the Oil Residents Refinery Association (ORRA), Christopher Opio and AFIEGO’s Senior Communications Officer Diana Nabiruma, confirmed that the refinery affected households in Hoima district had told government officials on Tuesday that they wouldn’t move from the area unless government fulfills all its pledges it made to them in October 2012 Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) Report for the oil refinery project.

Some of the families whose land was part of the over 29 square kilometres that was acquired by government in 2012 for Uganda’s proposed oil refinery were set to be relocated today from Kabaale-Buseruka to Kyakaboga village in an operation led by officials  from ministries of Energy and Lands alongside other government agencies.
“In a meeting held today August 8, 2017 at Nyahaira P/S in Hoima district the over 80 families unanimously  resolved that unless government provides them with land titles, electricity, water sources and access roads as promised in the RAP report, they will not allow to be relocated to Kyakaboga on Thursday,” Opio was quoted as saying in a press release published by AFIEGO two days ago.

However, going by the latest communication from the Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary Dr Stephen Isabalija the relocation will go on today as planned.
“On Thursday 10th August 2017, the Ministry will commission the relocation process which involves agreeing with the PAPs (project affected people) on a programme for each household to be resettled. it is therefore not true that they are all expected to relocate on the day of the commissioning. Some households are already cultivating their land and would therefore be better off once relocated,” Dr Isabalija says.

Dr Isabalija says leaders of the affected familes during the August 8 meeting barred the locals from airing out their views, yet on the other hand, Opio and Nabiruma in a letter to the media accuse the ministry officials of trying to engage only representatives of the people, which they say almost resulted into chaos.

“The ministry and subcounty chiefs were interested in hearing the views and concerns from PAPs, however some of their leaders barred them from speaking,” Dr Isabalija says.

The meeting on Tuesday 8 was attended by Ms Maureen Wadiyo (Community Liaison Officer Oil and Gas in the Ministry of Health), Mr Stephen Enachi (Petroleum Exploration Directorate, LC3 Chairperon for Buseruka Subcounty Ali Tinkamanyire and representatives from AFIEGO.

Despite AFIEGO’s that government has not prepared the relocation areas, Dr Isabalija says government is providing seedlings and food for the next six months, including bringing the skills development programme expected to run for six months to one year.
“Individual land titles are being processed,” says the Permanent Secretary, confirming that the consolidated land title of the relocation area has been obtained. One of the issues the families are said to have raised for not wanting to relocate was the issue of individual land titles to guarantee security of tenancy for their households.

Dr Isabalija says government says the relocation area is not isolated as claimed by AFIEGO and leaders of the affected families, saying other communities exist nearby. Government he says, has provided each household to be relocated a with 500-litre water tank, wired houses as it prepares to connect them to electricity, with further promise that it would build more infrastructure to ease the lives of the new occupants Kyakaboga village.
The PS has castigated AFIEGO, saying the NGO doesn’t represent the views of the families to be relocated. He further accused the organisation of trying earlier on to relocate residents to Kyakaboga “amid allegations of delays by government” and wonders why AFIEGO is now inciting people not to relocate.

“We would also wish to confirm that PAPs are willing and eager to be relocated and the commissioning programme is going on as scheduled at the resettlement area,” he says of the 73 households much as AFIEGO in a press release says they are over 80 families to be relocated.

However, it should be noted that the Land  Acquisition  and Resettlement Framework (LARF) exists which is supposed to provide a guide to land acquisition in the Albertine Graben for Oil and Gas  activities.
LARF emphasizes that land acquisition may result into displacement of people and as a result it is important for authorities to prepare adequately to address the issues of relocation and compensation of the affected peoples.

The cost of the refinery is estimated to be US$4.3 billion, with 70 percent of that amount to be borrowed and the remaining 30 percent coming from shareholders.
With the capacity to process 30,000 barrels per day, the refinery is planned for commissioning in 2020, with government sure it will bring many economic opportunities to the country.
 

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The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) has denied ever issuing a certificate, certifying the equipment used by Societe General Desurveillance (SGS), a Swiss-based company contracted to inspect vehicles in Uganda.

The revelation was made this morning by Patricia Bageine Ejalu, the Deputy Executive Director of UNBS, while appearing before the Parliament Physical Infrastructure Committee that is investigating circumstances surrounding the contract drawn between the Uganda Government and the Swiss company.

And Ms. Bageine told Parliament that the Ministry of Works and Transport invited the standards body in November 2015 to draft the regulations for vehicle inspection, yet the contract had already been signed in March 2015, meaning the equipment wasn’t certified before contract signing.

Interestingly, Ms. Bageine made the statement after being grilled by MPs on the inspection of SGS equipment, after she had earlier presented a statement saying the standards body had inspected the equipment. Indeed, she had earlier insisted that the equipment satisfies international standards and is traceable to the International Systems of Units but she was forced to change her statement and apologize to the members for giving false information.

Additionally, the Standards body boss informed the Committee that when a team of experts was sent to the SGS site, they discovered that the company has only one set of equipment used to inspect all types of vehicles in the country irrespective of the manufacturer.

As if that wasn’t enough, the equipment found on site was only capable of inspecting old vehicles, not new ones, they said.

Ms. Bageine however admitted that UNBS also falls short of its mandate, given the fact that the entity has no capacity to inspect all the equipment brought in the country for different roles.

She also decried the continued sidelining of UNBS by government entities when it comes to procurement of equipment, arguing that their input isn’t sought before the contracts are signed.

She also called on Parliament to put in place mechanisms to ensure that UNBS is involved during the purchase so that the right Ugandan standards are enhanced.

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Over 80 families affected by the oil refinery project who were set to be relocated tomorrow have resolved not to leave until government fulfills promises it made to them in the October 2012 Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) Report for the oil refinery project.

The families, whose land was part of the over 29 square kilometres that was acquired by government in 2012 for Uganda’s proposed oil refinery, were set to be relocated from Kabaale-Buseruka to Kyakaboga, Hoima district.

The function was to be presided over by high-level officials from the Ministries of Energy, Lands and other government agencies, but in a meeting held yesterday at Nyahaira Primary School in Hoima district, the affected families unanimously resolved not to relocate to Kyakaboga unless they are given land titles, and provided with electricity, water sources and access roads as promised in the RAP report.
The meeting was also attended by Ministry of Energy officials including a representative from the Directorate of Petroleum, the sub-county leadership, police and the refinery-affected people. Pleas by the Energy ministry officials to have residents reconsider the above conditions fell on deaf ears, and the meeting turned riotous when the officials insisted on having a separate meeting with the group leaders.
The families said they no longer trusted government and particularly the Ministry of Energy as it has broken promises on several occasions and ignored calls to include the local people’s input into the relocation exercise.
In the RAP report, the Ministry committed that it would provide each of the persons who opted for physical relocation with land identified and houses  on a case-by-case basis in the neighbourhood of the refinery area.
“The Ministry further committed that it would conduct a livelihood restoration exercise that would involve supporting families with grants for farming and business,” Mr. Christopher Opio, the Secretary to the Oil Residents Refinery Association (ORRA), says while quoting commitments listed in the refinery project’s 2012 RAP report.
He adds: “Only 46, out of 83 families are getting houses contrary to commitments in the RAP. In addition, land was not identified on a case-by-case basis and a special settlement, which the [refinery-affected] people have consistently rejected because it does not meet their socio-economic and cultural needs, was set up. Families are also yet to get their land titles. Without land titles, they cannot be assured that the property government wants to hand over this Thursday is theirs.”
At a May 25, 2017 meeting with the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), the affected families said that while the UHRC had taken the initiative to address their concerns by organising the meeting with the Ministry of Energy , it was tipped in favour of the latter.
“We presented our grievances and pointed out how best they could be addressed in a manner that taxpayers’ money would be saved. However, at their own discretion and with little regard for our requests, the Ministry of Energy directed on how it would address our concerns. This angered us,” Mr. Opio notes.
Some of concerns the affected people say were not addressed by government include; failure to buy land on a case-by-case basis, failure to provide land titles for all the families, failure to provide houses for over 47 families then that opted for physical and failure to compensate the over 20 families that rejected low compensation.
The Ministry of Energy officials said that they would process and provide the land titles in two months from tomorrow, the day of resettlement but the group has refused to listen to the officials’ promises.
The meeting ended with the families vowing that they will not participate in the handover ceremony of the houses. They also said that they would not relocate until government fulfills its promises as captured in the refinery project’s RAP report.

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