President William Ruto alongside his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni/PCSUganda President Yoweri Museveni has backed the construction of the Lamu oil refinery but said Uganda will hold off on investing in the project until it establishes what happened to a separate refinery planned for Tanga, Tanzania.
Museveni made the remarks on Wednesday during the groundbreaking ceremony for the Lamu refinery, where he spoke alongside President William Ruto and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote.
He expressed optimism about the project but raised concerns over separate refinery plans to build one in the other East African nations of Uganda and Tanzania.
“I’m very happy with this refinery,” Museveni said as he expressed support for the project.
He, however, said Uganda had long planned to establish a small refinery to serve its domestic market and parts of the interior of Africa.
“In Uganda, we have got some petroleum. I discussed with Mr Dangote and President Ruto and Samia that we’re going to build a small refinery in Uganda. We had planned this long ago. We can’t change that,” he said.
His comments drew laughter from the audience as he explained Uganda's position on the competing regional refinery projects.
The president added that Uganda had previously discussed locating its refinery in Tanga with Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
“Then we discussed with Mama Samia to build the refinery in Tanga, but there were some problems; I don’t know what happened,” he stated.
The Ugandan President indicated he wanted to establish what had happened to the Tanga plan before committing Uganda financially to the Lamu project.
“So I want to check on that one first,” Museveni said.
“Because this one, I support, but I will not invest yet,” he added, prompting another round of laughter from those attending the ceremony.
Museveni nevertheless expressed support for the refinery planned for the coastal town and pledged to work with the two leaders to establish how the two regional projects could be harmonised.
“I want to invest with Presidents Samia and Ruto to find out what happened to the refinery of Tanga so that we harmonise. Otherwise I really support,” he said.
The leader said Uganda has petroleum resources and needs refining capacity to support its own economy as well as markets in neighbouring parts of Africa.
The President also used the occasion to highlight Africa's economic position, remarking that the continent remained far behind other parts of the world in terms of economic output.
He said Africa's relatively small gross domestic product compared with other regions demonstrated the need for more investment and industrial projects.
Museveni described the Lamu refinery project as part of a broader awakening that could help stimulate economic activity on the continent.
