On the 12th of August 2020, the EITI International Secretariat admitted the Republic of Uganda as the 54th member country of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). EITI requires governments and extractive companies to publish and reconcile data on oil, gas, and mining revenues as a mechanism for ensuring transparency, accountability, and subsequently, proper management of revenues that accrue from natural resources.
Since 2020, a series of interventions have been undertaken to implement EITI in Uganda. Some of these include the establishment of the Uganda Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG); engagement and consultative meetings; capacity-building sessions; and contribution to several policies, laws, and guidelines in the extractives sector. Uganda has since developed and published two EITI reports. The first report (for the year 2019-2020) was published in February 2022, while the second report (2020-2021) was published on 30th June 2023.
Currently, Uganda is preparing for its first validation by the Global EITI Secretariat in October 2023, a process that will assess the extent to which the country is complying with the requirements of the EITI Standard. As part of the requirements for the validation process, the MSG is developing a 5-year strategic roadmap that focuses on fostering information disclosure, enhancing revenue management and accountability, and strengthening the operational capacity of the Multi-Stakeholder Group and the Secretariat. The government of Uganda will be launching its second EITI report covering the financial year 2020/2021 tomorrow the 15th of September 2023, at Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
The Civil Society Coalition on Oil and Gas in Uganda (CSCO), ACODE, and partners would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Government of Uganda upon the publication of its second EITI report for FY 2020/2021.
As civil society, we continue to express our commitment to work with the government and all other stakeholders to ensure that EITI is implemented successfully in Uganda.