Police trains oil protection unit

 

Police are in the advanced stage of training a special oil protection unit that will oversee the protection of the oil and gas resources of the country.

 

Appearing before the Parliamentary Adhoc committee investigating the regularization of the oil sector on Thursday, the inspector general of Police Lt General Kale Kayihura said under the guidance of President Yoweri Museveni, they developed an oil and gas protection directorate within the police to specifically provide protection and safeguard the oil and gas resources.

 

“We recognize the unique challenges involved in safeguarding the oil and gas resources in Uganda, we have to design and develop special approach and procedures, which are different from our existing policing Protocols,” he said. 

 

Kayihura who was flanked by other police officials was explaining Police’s role in safeguarding oil and gas resources of Uganda. 

 

He noted that Police was fast –tracking the training and equipping the directorate, to enable it function efficiently as designed.

 

Meanwhile, Kayihura also told the committee that according to their preliminary findings, the alleged oil bribery transactions against Ministers Sam Kuteesa (foreign affairs) Hillary Onek (internal affairs) and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi were never made.

 

Kayihura added that the alleged accounts of Tullow oil in the bank of Valleta, Malta and the accounts of East Africa development Ltd and EFG Euro bank, Ergasius, London, UK quoted in the source documents don’t exist.

 

“These transactions never took place, the bank accounts submitted were forgeries they were not bank accounts of these people,” Kayihura stated.

 

He however said, police has not been able to conclusively establish whether the alleged bank account No. 00344500727007 (EUR) of Onek at the Emirates bank in Dubai, exists or not.

 

Kayihura noted that they had not yet established any link between the East Africa development bank Ltd and Kuteesa; neither had they got any evidence of transactions between East Africa LTD and Bank of Valleta in Malta.

 

He told the committee that Police was however still investigating the source of the documents implicating ministers for receiving millions of money in commissions for the oil sector.