Oil revenue investment advisory committee inaugurated

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Matia Kasaija has inaugurated the petroleum revenue investment committee.

The committee will be tasked to decide where the money from the country’s oil sector would be invested.

The seven-member committee will be headed by 55-year-old Prof Samuel Sejjaka, a banker and former board chairman of Uganda Development Bank. He is a professor of accounting and finance and has served as a tutor at Abacus Business School and Makerere University.

Sejjaka said he was confident that their decisions would benefit the country that has for long waited to see what comes out of the oil money.

Kasaija said he expects the committee to work in the best interests of the country bearing in mind that the resource is exhaustible in the next two to 25 years.

Uganda has up 6.5billion barrels of oil but just between 1.4 to 1.7 billion can be removed from the ground and sold. The country is expected to earn up to $30bn from the entire resource.

This committee is a requirement under section 66 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 2015 and its major role is to advise on the investments to be made under the petroleum revenue investment reserve (PRIR). The money for investment would be drawn from the petroleum fund that is held at the Bank of Uganda.

Patrick Ocailap, the deputy Permanent Secretary and Secretary to Treasury, said the committee had been chosen out of a rigorous sieving process and that they are expected to grow the oil revenue through prudent investment but they would also have to be cautious of the associated risks.

On the fact that some of the revenues earned from the oil sector have been spent without the committee input, Ocailap said the money was spent on oil roads, airline, and other important infrastructure with parliament approval.

Other members of the committee are Dr Joseph Muvawala, the National planning authority executive director, Honey Malinga from the Ministry of Energy), Jennifer Muhuruzi Bigirwa Ministry of finance), Agnes Tibayeita Isharaza, the NSSF corporation secretary, David Arthur Wandera and Saad Asmahan.

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