Civil Society Press Statement On-Going Debate in Parliament on Petroleum Bill, Post Parliament Debate
We the Civil Society Organisations here represented have convened this Press Conference as a follow-up to our previous press statements on the on-going debate in Parliament on the Petroleum bills and to update Ugandan citizens of what is going in parliament.
First of all, we would like to thank our Members of Parliament—across the political divide—for standing firm for right and not might and refusing to legislate the resource-curse syndrome in the petroleum bill and demanding a thorough and informed debate regarding the powers allotted to the minister responsible for petroleum sector.
We reiterate our continued support to the MPs and commitment to keep up the pressure to ensure that the right legal and institutional framework is put in place.
We maintain our earlier position that Uganda’s petroleum resource is better overseen and managed by an independent institution and not a political office. We also do not want to see our petroleum resource given to a single individual to manage.
We call upon all Ugandans to support this position and to keep their MPs under pressure as their representative to legislate in favour of an independent institution to govern the oil resource and balancing of power between the different arms of government.
We implore the Executive to desist from arm-twisting parliament and turning it into its voting machinery and respective the doctrine of separation of powers as enshrined in our Constitution.
For God and My Country
Signed:
Civil Society Coalition on Oil & Gas (CSCO)
Water Governance Institute (WGI)
National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE)
Uganda National NGO Forum
Global Rights Alert (GRA)
International Alert
Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
