Stakeholders want petroleum engineering regulated
“Can we include petroleum geoscience so that it will cater for all activities, whether it is petroleum engineering, petroleum processing, or what,” Omunyoro Zakali Baguma asked.
Commissioner Geological Survey ministry of energy Fred Tugume, State Minister for mineral development Phiona Nyamutoro and Undersecretary Grace Tusiime in a group picture with earth scientists at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala city. (Photos by Maria Wamala)
Dedan Kimathi
Journalist @New Vision
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Key players in the extractive sector are pushing for petroleum engineering to be included among the disciplines regulated under the Earth Scientists Registration Board Bill 2024.
They echoed this on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, during a stakeholder workshop at the Fairway Hotel in Kampala city. The engagement was graced by minerals state minister Phiona Nyamutoro.
It should be noted that during the passing of the Mining and Minerals Act 2022, Parliament directed for the enactment of a stand-alone law that would streamline the professionals involved.
Loyola Karobwa Senior Legal Officer MEMD during the national stakeholders workshop on the proposed earth scientists registration board bill 2024.
Consequently, the first parliamentary council drafted the Bill, which after stakeholder consultations, is set to be transmitted to Cabinet. Depending on the decision Cabinet will take, it will either be tabled in Parliament or further reviewed.
However, while the Bill describes earth scientists as professionals with a degree or relevant qualification in fields such as geology, geophysics, metallurgy, mining surveying, hydrology, geospatial science, geotechnical engineering, geoscience, geochemistry, geological hazard assessment and mining engineering, among others.
Omunyoro Zakali Baguma, the director of geology and mines, says petroleum engineering was left out.
Participants during the national stakeholder’s workshop.
“Can we include petroleum geoscience so that it will cater for all activities, whether it is petroleum engineering, petroleum processing, or what,” Omunyoro Zakali Baguma asked.
Worse still, Henry Onyege, a senior chemist at the energy ministry, noted that professionals do with geochemistry, which is the study of the chemical composition, processes, and transformations of Earth's materials, and geophysics, which studies the Earth's physical properties and processes, had also been ignored.
“I wonder where people who do chemistry and physics working at the moment in the field of mining and minerals, how will we categorize them?” Henry Onyege posed.
These were however calmed by, Loyola Karobwa, a senior legal officer at the Energy Ministry, who explained that it was impossible to cover everything.
"If, as time goes, things evolve and there is a whole new discipline, the board has a mandate to consider it and add it,” Karobwa elaborated.
Sense of orderliness
That said, energy ministry under secretary Grace Tusiime is optimistic that the Earth Scientists Registration Bill 2024 will bring much-needed order to the profession, seen in fields like engineering, medicine and law.
“Not everybody should come in and portray themselves as if they are professionals. This to me is long overdue. I am also happy we are putting all the attention it deserves. But also, by virtue of regulatory impact assessment, the consultations have to be deeper and more thorough. We shouldn’t leave anybody behind and I am happy that the response has been so great,” Tusiime said.
Undersecretary Grace Tusiime, State Minister for Mineral Development Phiona Nyamutoro and Commissioner Geological Survey Fred Tugume during the national stakeholder’s workshop. 
Clause 2 of the Bill establishes a seven-member board with a three-year term, renewable once, responsible for registering earth scientists, issuing licenses, and enforcing discipline.
The board will include a chairperson with at least 10 years of experience, representatives from the Geological Society of Uganda, academia, government, the private sector, and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology.
Earth science
Geoscientists, according to Edwards Kato, a former commissioner of mines, are people who study subjects related to the earth.
“It can be a geologist because he deals with matter related to the earth. The earth, of course, being a planet that was formed 4.6 billion years ago, is structured in a way that it has a core, mantle and crust. The core and mantle are deeper and are at the centre of the earth. So, for us, we deal with the crust. Geologists study the foundation of how some of these mountains and soils and minerals were formed,” Kato explained.