En af grundene kan være omfattende anklager om korruption og bestikkelse mod flere ministre i det ellers fremgangsrige østafrikanske land, der har fået så mange bistandspenge fra Danmark
KAMPALA, 14 October 2011 (IRIN): Uganda has yet to produce a single barrel of oil.
But with three senior ministers accused of accepting bribes from oil companies and the government seemingly ill-prepared for imminent large-scale oil production, the phrase “resource curse” (svøbe) is already being bandied about.
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi has been accused of receiving funds to lobby for oil production rights on behalf of the Italian oil firm ENI, which eventually lost its bid for exploration rights to British firm Tullow Oil.
Along with Mbabazi, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa and Internal Affairs Minister Hilary Onek are both accused of taking bribes from Tullow Oil worth over 23 million US dollar and 8 million dollar respectively.
The ministers and Tullow Oil deny all the allegations, but MPs on 11 October demanded the ministers’ resignations and formed an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate them.
Kutesa has now stepped aside from his ministerial position to allow investigations into separate charges of abuse of office and causing financial loss relating to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Uganda in 2007.
Oil exploration began in Uganda’s northwestern Lake Albert basin nearly a decade ago; the Energy Ministry estimates the country has over two billion barrels of oil.
Tullow operates three oil blocks in the region, and had sold off part of its stake to Total and China’s CNOOC. However, following the allegations of bribery, parliament has halted the sale.
The revelations of possible large-scale graft have caused outrage in the population. The discovery of oil had given hope to a country that despite more than 25 years of relative stability, remains poor.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) reports that 51 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.
– We were so excited when we heard about oil, we knew we would at least get roads, better electricity supply and better hospitals but now it seems that, as usual, all the money is going into the pockets of a few, said Asuman Kasule, a taxi driver in the capital, Kampala.
No regulatory framework
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