Museveni addresses Parliament today

By Vision Reporter

President Yoweri Museveni Thursday afternoon addresses Parliament hours after jetting back into the country from a Russian trip.

The Ugandan leader held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Tuesday.

One of the key issues Museveni is expected to talk about before the House is that of oil, and the government Chief Whip Justine Kasule Lumumba thinks so.

She said during the NRM Parliamentary Caucus meeting, the President had promised to talk to the country about the oil resource.

Last week the NRM caucus sitting at Parliament entrusted the Energy minister with powers over oil deals through a vote. More than 130 MPs voted 'aye' while only a handful abdsconded.

The issue was put to a vote following heated debate over contention over clause 9 of the Petroleum (Exploration, Development and Production) Bill, 2012 with Government wanting the amended clause revisited so that powers to grant and revoke licenses revert back to the energy minister instead of the Petroleum Authority as had been earlier approved by Parliament.

During a meeting chaired by Museveni at the Cabinet Library, Parliamentary Building last week, he rejected a proposal by the MPs to give powers to the minister and the Petroleum Authority to jointly licence and revoke licences for the oil companies.