A court in Uganda has dismissed a case for access to oil sharing agreements filed by two journalists.
Charles Mpagi and Angelo Izama took the government to court, seeking disclosure of information regarding oil agreements to empower the public to participate in the government decisions that affect them for efficient, transparent and accountable use of the petroleum resources discovered in Uganda.
This was the first time journalists tried to use the Access to information law passed in 2005 to get information. This is a setback for most of us who thought passing the law had been a great step. What’s in a law if it can’t serve the purpose for which it enacted?
Already a few parts of the agreements that have been published show that the country signed a bad deal and may be reason government is trying by all means to block any avenues from which the public could access to full agreements.
More details on the ruling can be found here
Rosebell Kagumire 