Nairobi, Kenya | By Michael Wandati | Kenya and Uganda have entered into a tripartite agreement that permits Uganda’s state oil company to import petroleum products through Kenya.
President William Ruto announced this development on Thursday 16, May 2024 following a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at State House in Nairobi.
President Ruto noted that the agreement was reached during the second session of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) meeting held earlier this week in Kampala. During this session, the two countries signed seven instruments of cooperation.
“The Tripartite Agreement on the Importation and Transit of Refined Petroleum Products through Kenya to Uganda whose signing we have just witnessed enables the Uganda National Oil Company Limited to Import refined petroleum commodities directly from producer jurisdictions thus bringing to an end the challenges faced by the sector In Uganda,” stated Ruto.
According to President Ruto, the seven Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed addressed various trade barriers between Kenya and Uganda.
The agreements encompassed cooperation in education, sports, youth affairs, public service management and development, and collaboration between foreign service institutions.
Additionally, President Ruto highlighted that both nations had agreed to jointly extend the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Kampala and further into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The meeting also emphasized the importance of extending the SGR not only from Naivasha to Malaba but all the way to Kampala and DRC as an efficient and sustainable Infrastructural artery for the transportation of goods,” he said.
“We have obliged our respective Ministers to take joint urgent measures to mobilize resources for the implementation of this regional shared Infrastructure and report on progress by the end of 2024,” he added.
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The agreement follows months of a dispute between Kenya and Uganda over oil transportation.
The conflict arose when Nairobi denied a license to Uganda’s government-owned oil marketer, preventing it from operating locally and handling fuel imports to Kampala.
Additionally, Nairobi refused to allow the use of the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) infrastructure to transport refined petroleum products from Mombasa port to Uganda.
As a result, Uganda filed a lawsuit against Kenya at the East African Court of Justice on December 28, accusing Kenya of denying the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) the rights to operate as an Oil Marketing Company (OMC) within Kenya.
