Uganda: Oil revenue to develop economy- Ugandan president

(SomaliNet) Revenue from Uganda’s oil will be used to develop infrastructure and other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni has said.

The Ugandan leader said the oil and gas revenues would be chanelled to building the human resource capacity, developing physical infrastructure such as railways and roads, boost health and to industrialise the country.

“Oil revenues will not be used for consumption and importing perfumes, wines, cars and paying salaries. We shall use it as a finite resource to create infinite capacity for Ugandans. This is our core view in building long-term benefits from the oil,” he added.

Museveni, who was speaking at a two-day national seminar on managing Uganda’s oil revenue at Speke Resort Munyonyo yesterday, said to utilise the oil revenue properly, a petroleum fund would be set up.

Museveni explained, however, that in some special cases, oil proceeds could be used on crucial public investments, which would otherwise have been financed through borrowing.

He stunned the audience when he revealed that in 1986, he chased away officials of petroleum giant Shell BP and refused to grant them a petroleum exploration license when they approached him five days after he swore-in as president.

“My question to them was whether there was anybody in Uganda who understood petroleum. They brought me an economist from Bank of Uganda. He was from Ghana and his only linkage to petroleum was handling import papers for petrol at the bank. I told Shell BP I could not sign the contract. Go away. Petrol has been there for millions of years and I am in no hurry to sign it,” Museveni narrated.

He explained that he could not risk signing oil contracts that would have resulted into the “oil curse.” –New Vision