Kampala — THE Kenyan and Ugandan governments have agreed to allow the Joint Coordination Commission, JCC, the body spearheading the development of an oil pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala, to go ahead and award the project's concession to the Tamoil Group of Libya.

A press statement from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development at the weekend said the two ministers of Kenya and Uganda (Mr Kiraitu Murungi and Mr Daudi Migereko respectively) met in Nairobi on December 21 and endorsed the decision to offer the award to Tamoil.

The real agreement though that would cement the deal is scheduled for signing on January 26, 2007. Thereafter, Tamoil is expected to prepare "detailed design of the project" and comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment reports. The company, according to the statement, has already mobilised some of the funds for financing the project.

Construction will start in the second half of 2007 and will be completed in 12 months after the commencement of work. Conceived as a means to ease the transportation of petroleum products to Uganda from Mombasa, the pipeline is expected, upon completion, to slash costs of fuels in Uganda and relieve the enormous pressure on roads in the two countries from the thousands of heavy fuel tankers that ply the Mombasa-Kampala highway. This will save both Uganda and Kenya millions of dollars worth of road maintenance.

Also the fuel tankers are said to contribute significantly to pollution through emission of exhaust gases; the pipeline will eliminate this population.

Clarification

In our edition on page 5 "The National Security Agency,1980-85", Sunday Monitor named the following individuals as having been members of Idi Amin's dreaded intelligence agency, the State Research Bureau: Kahinda Otafiire, Jotham Tumwesigye, Elly Karuhanga, Sam Kutesa, Ezra Bunyenyezi, Amama Mbabazi, John Kamurali, Freda Babara and her sisters.

While various confidential sources made allegations to the writer Mr Timothy Kalyegira in respect of the above named individuals, these allegations were not corroborated nor was any of these individuals contacted to confirm or deny the allegations as required by our editorial policy. Maj Gen. Otafiire, Mr Mbabazi and Mr Tumwesigye were actually members of FRONASA, a liberation organisation that was actively struggling against the murderous Amin regime.

Mr Kutesa is known to have fled Uganda to exile in Kenya to escape murder by the State Research Bureau.We apologise to all the above-named individuals for all the inconveniences suffered as a result of Kalyegira's article.