Opposition to oil imports from Sudan remains

Kenyan government efforts to pave the way for oil imports from Sudan have again encountered criticism from civil society groups in Kenya, who question whether Kenya can mediate as an honest broker in Sudanese peace talks while profiting from the country's controversial oil production.

The Nairobi government confirmed in August last year its intention to allow the tax-free importation of Sudanese oil under the terms of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) - despite the vehement opposition of church and human rights groups - after fears were raised of a trade war between the two countries.

Oil from Sudan would save Kenya valuable foreign exchange because of the proximity of Port Sudan (from where Sudanese oil is shipped) to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, and allow for the industrialisation of the Kenyan economy, Energy Minister Raila Odinga stated.

Odinga subsequently came under pressure from Kenyan religious organisations, rights groups and civil society organisations because of Khartoum's alleged human rights abuses and displacement of civilian populations in oil-concession areas to make way for production.

The issue has re-emerged this week with news that Kenya's Energy Minister, Raila Odinga, had last week signed a deal with his Sudanese counterpart, Awad Ahmad al-Jaz, during an official visit to Sudan, the Nairobi-based East African Standard reported on Monday.

Odinga denied that he had signed any deal for the Kenyan government to import oil from Sudan, saying that such plans were reserved for the private sector over whose actions his government had no control.

He brushed aside arguments that it was morally defective for Kenya to allow the importation of Sudanese oil [when development and human rights groups have linked oil revenues to human rights abuses and exacerbation of the civil war], saying that opposition to Sudanese oil was misplaced, the East African Standard newspaper reported on Thursday.

Odinga said the civil war in Sudan had been going on for close to 50 years, long before oil was discovered, and would not end if Sudan failed to find a market for its oil.

"We import sugar from Sudan. Why don't we call it blood sugar?" the newspaper quoted him as saying.

The minister also announced that a Sudanese delegation would visit Kenya to explore the possibility of running an oil pipeline between the two countries.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sudanese Energy Minister Awad al-Jaz looked forward to greater economic cooperation with Kenya, saying that Sudan will import some of its needs, such as tea and coffee, while Kenya would import sugar and other commodities from Sudan, the official Sudan News Agency reported. Al-Jaz also confirmed Sudan's readiness to provide training to Kenya in oil matters.

Speaking in Khartoum, Odinga also said his government remained committed to the Sudanese peace process and would continue its mediation role. Kenya has hosted several rounds of peace talks aimed at ending Sudan's 19-year old civil war between the Khartoum government and southern rebels.

The BBC on Wednesday quoted Gitobu Imanyara, Secretary-General of the Ford-Kenya opposition party in Kenya, as saying it was "hypocritical of the government to buy oil from Khartoum, while attempting to play an impartial role as a mediator" in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

An oil deal between Kenya and Sudan would "greatly compromise" Kenya's role in assisting the Sudanese peace talks, Mikewa Ogada, a programme officer with the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) told IRIN on Thursday.

"Kenya is best placed to mediate in the conflict but they [the government] will not be neutral if they are benefiting from the oil being sold by Khartoum," he said.

Catholic Bishop John Njue, who heads the Kenya Episcopal Conference, has also come out to say the church was "opposed" to oil imports from Sudan, the Catholic Information Service for Africa (CISA) reported on Wednesday.

Samson Kwaje, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) spokesman in Nairobi, told IRIN that the movement would persevere with military attacks on oil installations and that oil companies operating in southern Sudan were still military targets.

"Our view is that we can stop oil from being exploited. But as long as oil is there, we cannot stop those who want to sell or buy it," Kwaje said.

"The oil is not benefiting the Sudanese people in the south or in the north. So we have appealed to the international community to wait until peace comes, when the oil will be used for the benefit of all Sudanese people."

In a statement issued on 18 July 2001, the Khartoum government said the oil revenues were being used to enhance the welfare of all the Sudanese people, adding that it had proposed to the regional Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) "a formula that aims at making oil part of the solution rather than being part of the problem".

IGAD, which is addressing the Sudanese conflict among other matters at a summit meeting in Khartoum this week, is trying to broker a peace deal between the government and the SPLM/A.

The Sudanese government formula, which would involve all IGAD countries, "was not put in place because of the SPLM/A's refusal of the proposed cease-fire," the government statement in July 2001 added.

The SPLM/A insists that oil production should be suspended until a comprehensive political settlement is in place in Sudan, and that a cease-fire is only possible within the framework of such a settlement.

Gerhart Baum, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, in November called for documentation to verify how the Sudanese government uses its oil revenues.

"Oil exploitation has continued to have a negative impact on the human rights situation," Baum said at the UN General Assembly. "There is no concrete evidence of oil revenues being spent for the development of the south, in spite of the fact that 40 percent of the national budget comes from oil."

But Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations Elfatih Mohamed Ahmed Erwa rejected these claims, saying that his government was using oil revenues to improve the infrastructure and social services throughout the country, particularly in the South.

"The Government of Sudan categorically rejects the linking of oil exploration with human rights violations," Erwa said, adding that Baum's request to see proof of the oil expenditures was a "breach of sovereignty."