ALBERTINE RESIDENTS DIALOGUE ON PUBLIC FINANCE BILL.

At a bright Wednesday  morning of 3rd April  participants from Kabarole, kasese, Ntoroko, Rukungiri  registered  at  sandtone hotel  kasese, to discuss the public finance bill in a meeting organized by international Alert and KRC. 

Introducing the Bill Mr. shem Byakagaba,  an Advocate and  consultant with lantern consult  mentioned that the oli and gas sector is a  fast  growing one and non renewable &  as a matter  of fact a  special regulation (the public finance bill) has been drafted to ensure that oil revenues are fairly, equitably and progressively shared among the Government and stakeholders. The facilitator also  listed  related policies /Acts which have been in existance but unfortunately  the public has limited knowledge  about them as the Exploration and  production Act cap 150,  The  constitution of the republic of Uganda ,  the mining Act 2003,the petroleum exploration and production Act 2013,  the facilitator  called upon  leaders in the Rwenzori region to contribute their views to the bill and more so ensure that other opportunities are utilized as mining of copper in kasese, agriculture, noting that oil and gas has been estimated to last for 30years so the country cant only depend on this resource. Present in this meeting were RDCs, District chairpersons,  cultural leaders, CSOs , the  RIC-NET program manager attended as part of CSOs.the CSOs were challenged to invest in studying the laws and policies and more so repackage information for the local community.
in the discussion it was amusing to note that some participants were in support of cultural institutions benefiting from the oil and gas sector  and while the others were oposing it that cultural institutions are never audited so how do they account for the resources?
 closing the meeting the Vice chairperson kasese remarked that the bill will help them to address the issues of compensation and corporate social responsibility in the kilembe mines.