At the beginning of his term of office in the period 2016-2021, President Museveni gave strategic policy Guidelines and Directives for the term 2016-2021. Many Ministers and Government Ministries, Departments and agencies took this up and have followed to the latter.
Below is the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development’s progress on the policy directives in the past two years.
STATUS / UPDATES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF H.E. THE PRESIDENT’S STRATEGIC POLICY GUIDELINES AND DIRECTIVES FOR THE TERM 2016 – 2021
| No. | Issue / Directive | Guideline / Action | Status update | Comments |
| 1 | Government shall fast track the construction of 24 industrial parks to attract investors | MEMD to construct power lines and substations to facilitate the industrial parks | Construction of power transmission infrastructure in four (04) Industrial Parks is ongoing (20% complete). These are: Namanve-South Industrial Park, 132kV transmission line (10km); Namanve-Luzira 132kV transmission line (31km); Mukono Industrial Park, 132kV transmission line (5km); and Iganga Industrial Park, 132 kV double circuit transmission line (12km). | i) Various power transmission infrastructures are being developed across the country targeting areas of production. ii) Completed preliminary designs for the substations iii) Geotechnical study for Namanve and Luzira Substations was completed iv)Geotechnical study for Mukono and Iganga substations is ongoing v) RAP Implementation for Iganga segment is 74% complete vi) RAP Implementation for the Namanve-Luzira segment awaits NEMA’s guidance on how to handle titles in wetlands |
| 2 | Lower the cost of electricity produced by Bujagali Station from US Ȼ11 to US Ȼ6
(Work to reduce the Bujagali tariffs from US$ 11cents to US$6 cents) | Put in place subsidy to reduce the cost of electricity to the manufacturer to US Ȼ 5 | · Government is still engaging the financiers of the Bujagali Hydropower Project discuss project re-financing and debt restructuring in a bid to reduce the tariff. · Meanwhile the corporation tax on Bujagali HPP was exempted for the next 5 years
| Other efforts are: i) Stimulate increase in power demand through the construction of several industrial parks which would result in enhanced system load factor and thus improve Bujagali’s plant factor which would bring down the cost per kWh. ii) Power loss reduction, and iii) Introduction of cheaper power from Karuma and Isimba in the energy mix. |
| 3. | Expedite granting of oil production licenses so that the actual production starts.
(Fast track commercial oil production to get resources to finance identified priorities) | · Government granted a total of nine (9) Petroleum Production Licenses over 13 Oil Fields. · Five (5) Petroleum Production Licenses covering nine (9) Oil Fields were granted to Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Limited (Tullow) and three Petroleum Production Licenses covering four (4) oil fields were granted to Total E&P Uganda B.V. (Total). · The review of the applications for Production Licenses submitted by Total for two fields is still ongoing, while the Lyec discovery made by the same company is still under appraisal stage. · Petroleum Production Licenses paved way for the Oil Industry to put in place the necessary infrastructure prior to commencement of oil production. | i) The Joint Venture Partners (TULLOW, TOTAL and CNOOC) completed the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) studies for the upstream petroleum development and production projects. ii) The FEED will inform the Final Investment Decision (FID) before the commencement of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of these projects. iii) The FID is on going iv) Government together with the joint venture partners also finalized the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Framework (LARF) to guide fair and adequate compensation and resettlement of project affected persons. | |
| 4 | Rectify the weaknesses in the Minerals Department
(Rectify the weaknesses in the Minerals Department to develop the mining sector to provide the raw materials for industries) | · Equip the department with a modern laboratory. | A Special Mineral Laboratory Development Project is in place. | The project was approved by Development Committee in the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development and became effective during the FY2017/18 |
| · Register and sensitize all artisan miners to stop the illegal mineral exports.
| · Registration, sensitization and awareness creation among the artisanal and small scale miners is being undertaken. · Provided technical assistance to big exploration and mining companies. · Mineral Certification Inspection Manuals were developed and tested on tin, tungsten and tantalite mining sites in Isingiro, Kabale and Kisoro Districts. · A Statutory Instrument to aid the implementation of the Regional Certification Mechanism (RCM) is now operational. | Training for the following categories of stakeholders was conducted: staff in geosciences and related topics; District Officials, Natural Resources Officers in Mining Legislation and Mineral Resources Management; Artisanal and Small Scale Miners in best practices, Environment, Health and Safety issues, business skills, organizational structures and benefits
| ||
| Ensure no interference with scientific exploration | Mineral Policy and Mining Legislation: The review of the Mineral Policy and Mining Legislation is complete. Mineral Promotions and investments: The Mining Cadastre has been updated and availability of geoscientific information to the public. | The Mineral Policy was approved by Cabinet in May 2018. Mining Legislation: The Principles of the Mining Act Amendment Bill are before Cabinet for approval. |