NGO Leaders’ Learning Excursion to The Albertine Graben.
It was a breathtaking experience for selected NGO leaders that toured the oil and gas production sites in the Albertine region on the 25th and 26th March 2024.
While setting the scene for the visit, Dr. Arthur Beinomugisha, the Executive Director of ACODE underscored the value of the learning visit. “ACODE and CSBAG thought it was important for the oil and gas information to be democratised. Negativity comes due to lack of knowledge, this visit will therefore foster learning so that we can collectively support the oil and gas sector to sustainably generate wealth that will benefit generations.”
Ms. Petronilla Lamunu the Coordinator, NGO Coordination Department at TotalEnergies EP Uganda appealed to sector players to regularly give constructive feedback to enable TotalEnergies do better; “We are not here to greenwash, we are here to share and learn from each other. We need your honest views for us to serve the sector better“… Petronilla noted.
Coordinated by the Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas (CSCO), and hosted by TotalEnergies EP Uganda in partnership with Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the visit fostered an interaction between NGO leaders and the site teams that are selflessly setting up the enabling infrastructure at Kabalega Industrial Park, Kabalega International Airport, EnviroServe Waste Management Facility, Tilenga Wellpad site, and Tilenga Central Processing Facility. Additionally, the leaders interacted with one of the implementors (Living Earth Uganda) and participant of the livelihood restoration initiatives targeting Project-Affected Persons. The shared change stories were inspiring as the supported participants have embraced farming in marketable foods not only for home, but also the market, which wasn’t the case before.
The leaders got an enlightening and very exciting experience as they toured different sites. “The infrastructural investment in the region is very commendable. This is so much better than 5 years ago, and more fundamentally it enables citizens’ access to different services” said Counsel Peter Magelah, ED – DENIVA
There was a harmonised appreciation of the commendable job/infrastructural investment in the Albertine region, the utilisation of local content, and the synergy amongst different key players in the sector, however the aspect of citizens’ (Banyoro and all Ugandans) preparedness to tap the different opportunities in the sector is a key issue that state and non-state actors will need to give necessary attention.
