President William Ruto has lauded President Yoweri Museveni for safeguarding Uganda’s oil reserves against exploitation, saying the Ugandan leader rejected pressure to make “easy choices” that would have hurt the country. 

Speaking on Wednesday at the Africa We Build Summit 2026 in Nairobi, Ruto recalled a private conversation he once had with Museveni before becoming president, when Uganda’s oil project had stalled for years.

“I want to thank President Museveni for refusing to accept easy choices,” Ruto told delegates. Adding: “He had a choice to allow the oil in Uganda to go the way others would have wanted.”

The Kenyan leader recounted asking Museveni about the delayed oil plans during a visit to Uganda.

“I asked him, ‘Mzee, what’s going to happen about the oil reserves that you have, because it’s taken time,’” Ruto said.

Museveni’s response, according to Ruto, was blunt and memorable: “Look, young man, then I wasn’t even president. He told me, ‘You see, some of these people you see here, if we give them a chance, they will sell this oil at a throwaway price and go and buy perfume.’ Those were his words and they have never left my mind.”

Ruto said Museveni’s stance was a lesson against shortcuts that risk national interests. “You know a case of people making shortcuts, easy decisions and in the process sabotaging the destiny of a nation and a region,” he added.
He said the summit offered a platform to rethink how Africa manages its resources.

“I am happy that we will be discussing how we are going to use our resources, whether it is the oil that we have in our region or the minerals we have in our region, not to export to others as raw materials.”

Uganda discovered commercial oil reserves in 2006 in the Albertine Graben but production has faced repeated delays over infrastructure, financing, and agreements. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, running from Hoima to Tanzania’s Tanga Port, is expected to deliver first oil in the coming years.

Ruto’s remarks underscored growing calls among African leaders to prioritize value addition and protect strategic resources for long-term regional benefit.

By ChimpReports