ocals-displaced-by-oil-pipeline-project-decry-varying-compensation-rates.
Worth Noting:
- The pending issues include delayed compensation since 2018 when the cut-off dates were placed on the EACOP PAPS, the affected people were stopped from using their land and up to date they have never been paid , different compensation rates especially in greater Masaka where the EACOP affected were not satisfied with the compensation rates that were used to assess their land and property for instance in Kyotera district the PAPS noted that they were undervalued compared to their counterparts from Lwengo district.
- The Kyotera PAPS said that their coffee plantations were valued at, shs33000 while in Lwengo was valued at over 88000. More so, a banana plants in lwengo was valued at Shs 50000 compared to shs 25000 in Kyotera district, yet they are neighbour.
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the government of Uganda, Tanzania and the Oil companies for reaching on the milestone of signing the final investment decision. The final investment decision (FID) was signed to seal all the other agreements which were signed in April last year 2021 and develop oil wells, the central processing facility and the East Africa Crude Oil pipeline (EACOP).
This latest development has been 15 years in the making sense commercially viable reserves of oil were established in 2006.
Since then further exploration has been carried out, the required laws put in place and negotiations between the government of Uganda, Tanzania and the developer concluded.
However, all of those e oil processes have been done so secretive and leaving out a lot of things for a poor people (Muntu Wansi). This contributed too many people to begin thinking that the oil would never come out of the ground, and some lost completely their expectations from oil.
The government needs to make the oil agreements public and this will help to build public trust among the oil affected persons and Uganda at large and will enable them to understand the oil processes. This resource is expected to benefit everyone in Uganda, both direct and indirect.
In addition to that, the government of Uganda needs also to settle all the pending land and compensation related issues that are still paining in the oil region both in Bunyoro and Greater Masaka. The settling of all pending issues related to land and compensation will help to make the process smooth, fair and even create good working relationships between the oil affected persons, government and the oil companies.
The pending issues include delayed compensation since 2018 when the cut-off dates were placed on the EACOP PAPS, the affected people were stopped from using their land and up to date they have never been paid, different compensation rates especially in greater Masaka where the EACOP affected were not satisfied with the compensation rates that were used to assess their land and property for instance in Kyotera district the PAPS noted that they were undervalued compared to their counterparts from Lwengo district.
The Kyotera PAPS said that their coffee plantations were valued at, shs33000 while in Lwengo was valued at over 88000. More so, a banana plants in lwengo was valued at Shs 50000 compared to shs 25000 in Kyotera district, yet they are neighbour.
The unfair compulsory land acquisitions were also not fair and adequate for all oil affected persons. This is because some refinery affected PAPS and Tilenga PAPS are still in court due to over unresolved issues.
The government of Uganda was supposed to address all the pending issues before reaching to the last stage of signing the Final Investment Decision.
Therefore, I call on the government of Uganda to use this time to build the trust among the Ugandans and resolve all complaints that are still paining them. This will build public trust and make the oil processes fair and smooth
Paul Kato- Research Associate at Africa Institute for Energy Governance.
Katop.adyeeri@gmail.com
Locals displaced by oil pipeline project decry varying compensation rates
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER September 5-6, 2026
- Kenya secures AGOA extension to 2028, unlocking continued duty-free access to US market
- Kenya’s public wage bill set to hit KSh1.287T as county spending strains fiscal limits
- KRA waives all tax penalties in year-end amnesty
- IEBC told to overhaul elections technology tender
About the Author
