The Minister of Internal Affairs, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire has urged Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in the country to focus on ensuring transparency in the national Oil and Gas sector rather than backing the selfish interests of the Western world against the sector.
Speaking at the quarterly dialogue between government and CSOs on the Oil and Gas sector that was held in Kampala yesterday, Gen Otafiire noted that the move by some CSOs to block Uganda from oil exploration is unjustifiable because Uganda is not the leading oil producer in the World.
He wondered why some people are saying Uganda should keep its oil in the ground but they are not telling the leading producers like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, America itself or Russia to keep theirs in the ground.
CSOs, however, accused government agencies of concealing information regarding the sector which created suspicions on the operations concerning developing the oil and gas sector.
Sarah Birete, the executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, asked the government to look at CSOs as partners in the sector instead of treating them with suspicion and bias.
Peter Lokeris, the Minister of State for Minerals, pledged the government’s commitment to work with CSOs and cautioned them to be positive and offer all the necessary guidance for proper exploration of national minerals.
