JAMII-ASM
JF-Expert Member
- Jul 30, 2015
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Katika hali inayoashiria kushika kasi kwa sakata la ujenzi wa bomba la mafuta linalotarajiwa kujengwa kuanzia mwezi wa nane mwaka huu, Ikulu kupitia msemaji wake imetoa ufafanuzi kuwa mjadala wa ujenzi wa bomba la mafuta umefungwa, na kilicho baki ni ujenzi kuanza, na vituko vya Kenya ni mbio za sakafuni, na muda si mrefu hizo mbio zitaishia ukingoni.
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Ikulu: Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline a done deal
PRESIDENT John Magufuli’s office categorically asserted yesterday that the agreement entered between Tanzania and Uganda for the construction of a crude oil pipeline linking the two neighbouring countries is conclusive despite ongoing jostling by Kenya for the project.
According to the acting State House director of communications, Gerson Msigwa, what appears to be increasingly desperate maneuvers by high-level officials in Kenya to try to snatch the major infrastructure project from Tanzania will eventually prove futile because the deal struck by Magufuli with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Arusha recently was literally iron-clad.
“The two presidents have already sealed the deal and handed it over to experts to allow for the implementation work to proceed,” Msigwa said. “The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and Ministry of Energy and Minerals are already carrying out tangible activities in relation to this project,” he added.
The agreement between Magufuli and Museveni was followed up by the signing of a project implementation plan in Arusha between responsible ministers from both countries, during which Uganda’s Energy and Minerals Development Minister, Irene Muloni, said her country was keen to fast-track the project’s implementation.
According to Msigwa, Tanzania had beaten Kenya in the race for the pipeline project primarily because of its geographical position which offers a more favourable route from Uganda’s oil fields in the Lake Albert basin to the Indian Ocean coast.
He confirmed that executives from the French company Total, which has a large stake in the Ugandan oil fields, had assured President Magufuli the $4 billion needed to build the pipeline via a preferred southern route to the Tanzanian port of Tanga was already available.
The project is expected to have a huge economic significance for Tanzania, including the creation of up to 1,500 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs.
Museveni and Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta are reported to have held talks in Nairobi on Monday about which route to choose for the pipeline that Kenya wants to go through its territory to Lamu port, instead of Tanga. But they did not reach any final deal.
A statement issued after Monday’s talks said the two leaders would meet again in Kampala in a couple of weeks’ time, after technical teams had further assessed factors such as security and which route would be cheaper and easier to build.
Total has already raised serious concerns about the safety of the Kenyan route which would run close to the border with Somalia, where al-Shabaab terrorists are a constant threat.
Britain’s Tullow Oil company, which has stakes in both Ugandan and Kenyan oil fields, is reportedly pressing for the Kenyan route, saying it will be cheaper for Uganda as costs will be shared between more producers. China’s CNOOC also has a stake in Ugandan oil.
Analysts said the dispute over the proposed oil pipeline route was straining relations in east Africa.
The issue appeared to have been settled in August last year after Museveni and Kenyatta signed an initial deal for the pipeline to pass through Kenya.
WHY TANZANIA IS A BETTER ROUTE THAN KENYA
Total has said it is concerned about the proposed northern route through Kenya because of the potential for attacks on the pipeline by Somalia-based al-Shabaab Islamist militants.
According to media reports from Kenya, a study by Tullow Oil and CNOOC which warned of possible delays in the completion of the oil pipeline if it went through a Kenyan route was at the centre of the talks between Kenyatta and Museveni on Monday.
Tullow Oil and CNOOC are reported to have carried out a research whose findings warned Uganda against going ahead with its original plan to use the Kenya route.
Sources said the study warned that, among other things, Kenya has a history of protracted land compensation disputes which could take years to resolve, thus further delaying the pipeline project.
The study also noted that the Lamu port in Kenya had not even been built yet, warning that it might not be completed by 2018 when Uganda expects to start exporting its crude oil.
On the other hand, Tanzania already has an established port in Tanga, which could be effectively expanded at a relatively faster speed to act as a hub for the export of Ugandan oil to international markets.
Experts said Tanzania also has experience in resolving land compensation issues quickly in order to make way for major projects, citing the successful construction of the Mtwara-Dar es Salaam natural gas pipeline and the recently-concluded land acquisition for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plans in Lindi Region.
In Tanzania, ownership of land is vested in the president, which gives him powers to issue a decree and acquire land for the construction of projects such as the proposed pipeline.
In contrast, land in Kenya is not vested in the president, which means any pipeline construction project through that country would likely be complicated by potentially costly private land acquisition procedures.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
