Ex-Ghana president tips on oil management

Carol Kasujja and Innocent Anguyo

KAMPALA - Former Ghana president John Kufuor has said that lack of good governance, transparency and accountability on the African continent has made oil a curse to the continent.

Speaking at Makerere University on Friday, he said that in reality, if Africa seeks ways to ensure accelerated development and economic transformation for its nations, including Uganda, it must focus on achieving quality leadership that will offer good and accountable governance.

His remarks came during a public lecture on the theme: Oil resource management and its utilization for economic transformation, held inside the university’s main hall.

“A little probe will show that poor governance has been the bane of development of not only our two countries, but also of almost all the other sub-Saharan countries,” Kufuor said.

The liberal-democrat observed that some of the best practices that Ghana has emulated to manage its resources are putting petroleum agreements before Parliament by the executive for scrutiny before passage into law.

And that, he made clear, seems to be driving the west African nation in the “right direction”.

The most unique feature of Ghana’s petroleum revenue management regime is found in the creation of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC), a 13-member body comprising journalists to monitor government in its management of the revenue from oil, he added.

During the lecture, Uganda’s Prime Minister said the government is in its final stages of preparing to start exploring the oil after extensive consultations about building a refinery in the Albertine region.

Amama Mbabazi talked of the projected increase in the number of jobs and business opportunities from oil production.

We intend to use the oil revenues to develop our infrastructure and create opportunities for growth, he said.

“The government is committed to the highest level of transparency in the oil sector because oil belongs to the people and as custodians as well as stakeholders, we have the country’s best interest and we will protect it,” the PM said.

But he was sure to admit that currently Uganda has an energy challenge and it is the main reason why exploration is delayed.

The lecture was attended by MPs, Makerere University chancellor, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera and his vice, Prof John Ddumba-Ssentamu, Dr. Ezra Suruma, a senior presidential advisor on finance and economic planning as well as several professors from leading global universities.