Kenya and Uganda have settled on the northern route for the crude oil pipeline that will transport oil from Albertine to Lokichar in Turkana County.

The agreement was made during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s state visit to Uganda, where he signed several bilateral agreements with President Yoweri Museveni.

President Kenyatta’s spokesman, Mr Manoah Esipisu, said the two leaders agreed that “subject to financing, security guarantees by Kenya, the Hoima-Lokichar-Lamu oil pipeline starts as soon as possible.”

“We are going to build pipelines for crude oil and refined petroleum products, as well as to join you, alongside our other East African partners, in the development of an oil refinery here in Uganda whose impact will be regional,” Mr Kenyatta said when he addressed the Ugandan parliament yesterday.

Speaking by phone from Kampala, Kenya’s petroleum legal adviser for the Energy Cabinet secretary, Mr Daniel Kiptoo, said: “We will give a clear update detailing financing of the pipeline, tendering for the construction firm and when construction will commence.”

Kenya's National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said financial advisers will help both countries to settle on a funding option with considerations of upstream oil firms and private investors with the governments’ help.

The decision brings to an end a debate that has seen Kenya and Uganda hold meetings since last year. The only other option for the pipeline was the southern route through Nairobi from Uganda to Mombasa.

Though oil investors prefer the southern route, citing security concerns on the northern route, the risks involved are higher. Taking the route involves displacing hundreds of residents, which would increase the project’s costs.

Presidents Kenyatta and Museveni have always considered construction of the oil pipeline an important component of the Northern Corridor Integration project.

Key decisions on the project, such as selecting the firm that did the design for the pipeline (Toyota Tsusho) were made at one of the Northern Corridor Integration summits.

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