Civil Society Organisations have petitioned the Minister for Energy and Mineral Development saying the ministry of not being transparent on what extactly is happening in the mineral and petroleum sector and disclosing of the exect proceeds government earn from the sector.
In the petition that has been fronted 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) note that government accented to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards which requires transparency in the sector.
CSOs in their petition have noted 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 attension which include:
The ministry’s failure 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 upper 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 hence causing wastage. 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 to develops and publishes Regulations for the optimal utilization of mineral royalties transferred to upper local governments, preferably restricting their appropriation for development purposes.
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.
Remittances of mineral/petroleum royalties to local governments.
