Technically skilled Ugandans involved in the oil and gas industry have been urged to register on the National Oil and Gas Talent Register to increase their chances of employment within the country’s fast-growing petroleum sector.
The call was made by James Musherure, Senior National Content Officer at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), while officiating at a pass-out ceremony for 30 heavy equipment operators in Hoima City.
The graduates were trained by Zetta Energy Limited under a CNOOC Uganda Limited sponsorship, with support from Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom.
Musherure emphasized the register's role in ensuring the government keeps track of available skilled personnel to prioritise them for upcoming job opportunities in the sector.
“The Petroleum Authority has put in place this talent register to identify Ugandans with technical skills and stop the importation of foreign workers for jobs that locals can do,” Musherure said.
He revealed that over 14,000 Ugandans have so far been trained in oil and gas-related fields, with the majority hailing from the Bunyoro sub-region, which hosts the country’s major oil developments.
The effort is part of PAU’s strategy to strengthen local capacity through community-targeted training programs.
To-date, more than $30 million has been invested in this capacity-building initiative.
According to Musherure, the sector now directly employs more than 18,000 people, including over 5,000 from Bunyoro.
“We had challenges getting skilled people, especially heavy truck drivers. That is no longer the case,” he noted, urging oil companies to give priority to locals affected by oil activities.
Eric Daniel Jumba, National Content Manager at CNOOC Uganda Limited, said the training was highly competitive, with only 30 selected out of over 800 applicants.
The program focused on heavy civil construction equipment such as excavators and wheel loaders—skills that are in high demand.
“This is part of our National Content, Skills and Capacity Development program. The majority of the trainees—80 percent—are from Kikuube, Hoima, Masindi, and Buliisa,” Jumba said, adding that the remaining 20 percent came from other parts of the country.
Annet Kemirembe, one of the trainees from Bujwahya Cell in Hoima, expressed gratitude to CNOOC for the opportunity, saying the training has equipped her with life-changing skills she couldn’t have otherwise afforded.
“This has given us not just skills but hope for a better life,” she said.
Moses Atuha, the tourism officer for Bunyoro Kitara Kingdom, welcomed the development and urged oil companies to prioritise Bunyoro residents for employment opportunities in line with the kingdom’s emphasis on local empowerment.
“Our people live around the oil rigs—they must be considered first,” Atuha said. “But we also urge the trainees to look beyond the oil sector and explore job markets in other industries.”
The National Oil and Gas Talent Register is maintained by the PAU to match skilled Ugandans with job openings in the oil and gas sector, thereby advancing the government’s local content goals and reducing dependency on foreign labour.