Bunyoro hopes of oil wealth rise as colonial treaty is found

This amendment was a response to the kingdom’s demands for inclusion in revenue sharing, since the policy at the time focused on things like capacity building, licensing and monitoring exploration, and obtaining geological and geophysical data that would help attract oil companies to invest here.  

“Nobody will be denied royalties, because according to the policy, royalties shall be paid to government, local government and the landowner, who (in the case of a kingdom) should be the king holding the land of the kingdom in trust,” said Mr Onek.  

However, the kingdom of Bunyoro, unlike other traditional establishments in Uganda, does not hold land, which means that the new policy technically excludes it from the list of direct beneficiaries. 

It is also known that drilling and production of oil has been strategically situated in game reserves in Bunyoro, which are owned by the state.

Where the oil wells are not in game reserves, like a number in Bullisa County, the land is communally owned. It appears that local governments in Bunyoro region could ultimately be the prime beneficiaries there.  

“But we are not ready to be knocked off the list so easily; we shall claim our share,” said Bunyoro Premier Kiiza.

With the colonial-era agreement in hand, Bunyoro has received a boost to ts campaign to reclaim its land. 

Apparently, the British colonialists gave away parts of Bunyoro to the neighbouring Buganda and Toro kingdoms in 1899 in retribution for the resistance to colonial dominance by the then king of Bunyoro, Kabalega Cwa II. 

Bunyoro has filed a case in the Uganda courts, and is to file another in Britain, both in pursuit of its land.  

It is clear that Bunyoro fears losing out in the wake of the government’s repeated assertions that natural resources are national assets, and the areas containing them can only gain a little extra in provision of health services.  

Mr Onek said, “Some parts of the country do not have minerals, but they should benefit from national mineral assets. 

However, the government, through the policy, recognises the areas where the minerals are mined, and for that reason gives them something extra.”