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 appear 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
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