Africa-Press – Uganda. Civil society organisations have petitioned the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development over delay on the part of the minister to publish the list of local governments eligible to receive royalties from petroleum productionand non-disclosure of information to the beneficiary local governments.
In the petition that was lodged by Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE) and civil society partners from Mid-Western Albertine Graben under their network Bunyoro Albertine Petroleum Network on Environmental Conservation (BAPENECO), they note that government accented to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards which requires transparency in the sector.
CSOs in their petition observed that although Government has done commendable work in the extractives sector. For instance, In the petroleum sub-sector having developed a robust policy and legal framework for the exploration and production of petroleum resources, there are some areas that need urgent attention, some of which include:
Delay to implement Section 75 (2) of the Public Finance Management Act (herein “PFMA”) (2015) which provides that the minister responsible for petroleum shall publish a list of local governments within petroleum exploration and production areas of Uganda that are eligible to receive royalties arising from petroleum production.
Delay in making regulations for better determination of the royalty regime in the mining sub-sector categorically for;
The valuation of minerals to determine the royalty base;
Rates of prevailing mineral market prices for each mineral;
Determination of royalties for mineral samples;
Conditions and duration of waiver of royalties (in part or whole) and
Provisional assessments.
Lack of regulations for the optimal utilization of royalties transferred to local governments. The implication of lack of Regulations for the optimal utilization of mining royalties transferred to upper local government is that there is a risk of beneficiary local governments using the mineral royalties arbitrarily for purposes that may not bring about development. Given the fact that minerals are finite resources, regulations should be developed that guide utilization of these funds. Benchmarking can be done from the wildlife sector.
These have henceforth called upon the minister responsible for petroleum to publish the list of districts to benefit from oil production and develop regulations for the optimal utilization of mineral royalties transferred to local governments, preferably restricting their appropriation for development purposes.
That the minister discloses and publishes information regarding determination of royalties specifically; the volumes of mineral and/or petroleum being extracted; valuation of minerals being extracted; licensee returns to MEMD and/or Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and any waivers that may be granted to licensees in the mineral sub-sector to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of minerals revenue; and remittances of mineral/petroleum royalties to local governments.
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