- Title: UGANDA: Court dismisses case seeking oil deals disclosure
- Date: 5th February 2010
- Summary: LAKE ALBERT, UGANDA (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OIL EXPLORATION
- Embargoed: 20th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uganda
- Country: Uganda
- Topics: Domestic Politics,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVA5N5X14X2HID26X2HWZXSA1IYU
- Story Text: A Ugandan court on Wednesday (February 3) dismissed a case filed by two Ugandan journalists in 2007 to try and force the government to disclose details of oil Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) it has signed with explorers.
The Ugandan government has defied pressure to disclose the terms of its agreements with oil companies, saying that would greatly weaken its position in future licensing rounds.
A Chief Magistrate's court in the capital Kampala dismissed the case filed by Charles Mpagi and Izama Angelo, senior journalists at local newspaper the Daily Monitor who described themselves as private citizens in their petition.
"I would also like to think that government business is not in its entirety supposed to be in public domain. There are cases where the keeping of certain documents secret is necessary for proper functioning of public service. What I believe is required of the public is for them to have the confidence that what the government is doing is in the best interest of the public," said Chief magistrate Deo Ssejjemba.
Late last year, another group, Greenwatch, filed a similar case against the government.
Exploration firms discovered commercial petroleum deposits in 2006 in the Albertine Graben area that sits on Uganda's western border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Production is expected to start later this year.
The journalists made the case that the government's refusal to disclose the PSAs protected the interests of a "handful of shareholders" against 31 million Ugandans in whose trust the government owned the petroleum.
They built their case around the country's Access to Information Act, which allows free access to information in public offices except where disclosure jeopardises national security or the privacy of an individual.
Lawyer Godfrey Malinga says the journalists will look into seeking an appeal.
"The first line of what we need to do right now is first to apply, we need to apply for the typed copy of the ruling. As you it just read to us and some times there are certain things that can skip you. So we need the full text of the ruling, study it, and after considering it, then we will decide whether or not to appeal or not to appeal. But I am of the strong view that we may have to appeal this case," Malinga said.
Uganda has signed five PSAs.
Among the companies operating in the country are Britain's Heritage Oil, Tullow Oil, Dominion Oil and Neptune Petroleum. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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