Museveni backs Lamu but keeps Uganda’s money at home

The Ugandan president’s remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony drew laughter — and raised hard questions about regional commitment to East Africa’s most ambitious energy project

By David Kimani

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni yesterday backed the KSh2.2 trillion Dangote East Africa Petroleum Refinery in Lamu but told the groundbreaking ceremony that Uganda would not invest in the project, saying his country was already committed to building its own refinery.

Speaking alongside President William Ruto and Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote at the Lamu ceremony, Museveni said Uganda had made its refinery plans long before the Lamu project took shape and was not in a position to abandon them. His remarks drew laughter from the audience but carried an unmistakable message about the limits of regional solidarity when national interests diverge.

“In Uganda we have some petroleum. We are going to build a small refinery and because we had planned this a long time ago, we cannot change that,” Museveni said.

Museveni said he had held prior discussions with Ruto about Uganda’s position, and separately indicated he wanted to establish what had happened to an earlier plan to site a regional refinery in Tanzania’s Tanga port before making any further commitment to the Lamu project.

The remarks underline one of the central tensions facing large regional infrastructure projects in East Africa: countries may endorse the vision in public while quietly protecting their own energy strategies in private.

Ruto’s refinery has its groundbreaking. Securing Uganda’s investment may prove a longer negotiation.

The post Museveni backs Lamu but keeps Uganda’s money at home appeared first on The Mt Kenya Times.