Dr. Samuel Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, has urged all religious leaders to support advancements in the oil and gas sector and to reject all negative influences from outside powers.
“We must advocate to ensure that no other foreign country comes to attack us. We have God-given oil in our country. We should benefit from it and resist other countries who are saying that this is not proper; I don’t think that’s proper to interfere in our development,” he said.
During a country tour led by a delegation from the House of Bishops in the Albertine region, Archbishop Kaziimba commended the government for the establishment of institutions like the Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba, which he hopes will see many Ugandans employed in the oil sector.
During this visit, the Institution’s principal, Benard Ongodia, noted with concern that the budget cuts they experienced in the financial year 2023-2024 will deeply affect them.
“For now, we don’t have a transformer; we don’t have enough motors, and that limits our ability to offer the highest level of skills for electrical training and engineering,” said Benard.
Dr. Kazimba Mugalu called for more funding, urging the finance ministry to prioritise such institutes in order to promote Uganda’s talent in the oil sector.
According to the Archbishop, resources such as oil are God-given and must be utilised, and it would really be challenging to have God-given resources with no or few informed and educated people to do the work.
Dr. Kazimba’s statements follow a number of foreign countries and actors trying to sabotage the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP). The pipeline will transport oil produced from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania where the oil will then be sold onwards to world markets.
Kazimba advised Ugandans to desist from falling under foreign influence and work for the development of Uganda in all sectors.
