"We are mere spectators, says Nwoya District Chairman"
…Patrick Okello Oryema, the Nwoya district Chairman complains about what he perceives as systematic exclusion of his people and region from participating in the oil and gas sector. Nwoya district in Acholi sub-region is one of the districts in the Albertine Graben where a substantial amount of oil has been discovered. The district boasts of oil wells such as Jobi, Rii, Mpyo and Lyec among others, where Total E&P (U) Ltd is the main operator…
He says “The issue of oil is a new phenomenon in Uganda and as Nwoya district, it took us time to understand it fully. First of all, oil in Nwoya district is within a protected area (Murchison Falls National Park). That in a way made it very difficult for our community to see and understand what was going on and get acquainted with the process unlike in other districts like Buliisa or Hoima where oil is drilled within the community. For our case, oil is in the Park. So, in a way, this created a lot of suspicion on how our community is going to benefit from the oil. What I want to say is that the oil exploration has not yet benefited our people much even in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR].”
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