William Ruto-Museveni Oil Import Deal: Expert Shares Possible Implications as Kenya Woos Uganda Back

 

Kenya and Uganda have agreed to solve the issues surrounding oil importation. President William Ruto greets Uganda President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda on Monday, February 26, 2024. President William Ruto met with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni on Monday, February 26. What Ruto agreed with Museveni on oil import deal Ruto revealed that the agreement reached centred on sourcing and scheduling petroleum imports for the region to ensure competitive pricing.  "We have agreed on a way forward of sourcing and scheduling imports for the region in a manner that will ensure we achieve the most competitive pricing and maximum logistical efficiency," said Ruto. This followed a move by the Ugandan government to ink a deal with Tanzania, after citing inflated oil prices resulting from Kenya's government-to-government oil deal with Arab nations. How Ruto-Museveni agreement will solve oil import issues In an exclusive interview with TUKO.co.ke, Petroleum Outlets Association of Kenya (POA) chairman Martin Chomba noted that the agreement between Ruto and Museveni could solve the issues that were pushing Uganda away from Kenya's oil market. "Uganda wanted a special consideration in terms of petroleum imports from Kenya. Through the interactions of the executive from both sides, there could be a settlement of the issues, which proved to be administratively hard," explained Chomba.  Chomba noted that the petroleum sector is excited about the deal, which would revamp the business. "The business will go back to where it was and probably improve in terms of oil export to Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, and South Sudan," he said. Why Uganda is not getting out of Kenya's oil market The market sector players' chair cited issues to do with destination, logistics, and infrastructure that Uganda still considers Kenya as its preferred oil import market. He said that although Museveni's administration reached out to Tanzania to initiate an oil transit from Dar es Salaam Port, Kenya is the best option for the shorter route. "Kenya has always been the preferred Ugandan route and destination for imports, especially oil products. The country has a well-established petroleum infrastructure, and it's a shorter route to Uganda from the port of Mombasa," added Chomba. Ruto noted that after the agreement, Kenya, and Uganda will pursue the design and construction of the earlier conceptualised Eldoret-Kampala-Kigali refined petroleum product pipeline. 

by  Wycliffe Musalia