During 2016, the Board of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda commenced recruitment of the top management. An Executive Director for the Authority was appointed effective September 2016 and Directors to head the respective Directorates in the PAU commenced work during February, 2017.

Executive Director and Secretary to the Board

Mr. Ernest N.T. Rubondo

Executive Director and Secretary to the Board

Mr. Ernest N.T. Rubondo

Mr. Rubondo completed a Master of Science in Petroleum Reservoir Geology at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London in 1990 and worked briefly with Scott Pickford Plc in the United Kingdom. He returned to Uganda to participate in field geological and geophysical data acquisition as part of the petroleum exploration effort in the country. He worked with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral development for over 30 years, and was Commissioner for the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department (PEPD) between 2008 and 2014 and Director for Petroleum between 2015 and 2016. He has been a member of the Uganda Government team that promotes the country’s petroleum potential and also negotiates Production Sharing with oil companies for acreage in Uganda’s Albertine Graben. Mr. Rubondo chaired the working group which coordinated the formulation of a draft National Oil and Gas Policy for Uganda which was approved in 2008 and was also a key participant in the formulation of Uganda’s new petroleum laws which were passed in 2013. He led Uganda’s technical team in the joint evaluation of an optimal pipeline route transporting Uganda’s crude oil to the East African Coast. He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG), the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Geological Society of Uganda. He is also the recipient of the Global Pacific Award for Distinguished Contribution to the African Oil and Gas Industry, 2007.

Ms. Juliet Mpiima

Director Exploration

Mr. Clovice Irumba Bright

Director Finance, and Corporate Services

Mr. Michael Otonga Ochan

Director Midstream

Mr. Dozith Abeinomugisha

Director for Development and Production

Mr. Alex Nyombi

Director Economic, and National Content Monitoring

Ms. Peninah Aheebwa

Director Environment, Health and Safety

Dr. Joseph Kobusheshe

Director Legal and Corporate Affairs

Mr. Ali Ssekatawa

Ms. Juliet Mpiima

Ms. Juliet Mpiima is a Certified Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD, UK). She holds a Master of Science in Human Resources from the University of Edinburgh, and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from Makerere University Business School. She has seventeen (17) years of experience in Human Resources (HR) practice working with regional, and multinational brands like Bank of Africa, Nation Media Group, Coca-Cola, Vivo Energy Uganda, and NCBA Bank Uganda. Juliet’s experience covers vast HR facets, including HR Strategy and Policy, HR information systems, organisational development, talent management, organisational cultural transformations, performance management, benefits, and compensations, to mention but a few. Before joining the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Juliet worked as Head Human Resources Manager for NCBA Bank Uganda.

Director Exploration

Mr. Clovice Irumba Bright

Director Finance, and Corporate Services

Mr. Michael Otonga Ochan

Mr. Otonga Ochan is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the United Kingdom, and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Edinburgh Business School, Herriot-Watt University, Scotland. Mr. Otonga Ochan has over 21 years’ experience in strategic planning, financial management, corporate governance, leadership and administration. He has been the Commissioner Corporate Services in Uganda Revenue Authority for nine years, serving as head of the department of Finance, Administration, Human Resource and Information Technology.

Director Midstream

Mr. Dozith Abeinomugisha

Mr. Abeinomugisha holds a Master of Science in Petroleum Geoscience from the Royal Holloway College, University of London.  He was the Assistant Commissioner, responsible for refining in the Midstream Petroleum Department, Directorate of Petroleum, in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development(MEMD) before joining the PAU in 2017. He is part of Uganda’s technical team, which assessed the suitability and selection of the pipeline route for exporting Uganda’s crude oil during 2016 and the team that negotiated and concluded the agreements required by the licensed oil companies to take Final Investment Decisions for the country’s Oil and Gas(O&G)  projects between 2019 – 2021. He worked with MEMD since 2000 and has extensive experience in geological mapping and management of petroleum exploration licences. He was the President of the Geological Society of Uganda (GSU) from 2005 to 2012 and has authored several publications, reports and presentations that have been published in international journals.

Director for Development and Production

Mr. Alex Nyombi

Mr. Nyombi, a Petroleum Geophysicist, holds a Master of Science degree in Petroleum Geophysics from the University of Leeds, and a Master of Laws degree in Petroleum Law and Policy from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom. Mr Nyombi has over twenty years’ experience in the Oil and Gas(O&G) industry.  He has experience in geoscience data acquisition and interpretation, and he has been involved in the establishment, and promotion of Uganda’s petroleum potential.

He has experience in petroleum policy and law and has been directly involved in drafting the O&G laws in Uganda and their attendant legal instruments. Mr Nyombi spearheaded and led the Government team that drafted and put in place the Model Production Sharing Agreement which is in use today. He has vast experience in O&G transactions, and has been involved in licensing, contract negotiations and the farm-in/farm-down transactions in the country.

He currently leads the PAU’s team that spearheads the monitoring and regulation of technical aspects for the O&G activities in the development and production regime in Uganda.

Director Economic, and National Content Monitoring

Ms. Peninah Aheebwa

Ms. Aheebwa holds a Master of Science degree in Energy Studies specialised in Oil and Gas Economics from the University of Dundee UK and a Master of Arts in Economic Policy and Planning, from Makerere University. She has worked with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development since 2002 where she rose through the ranks to the position of Principal Petroleum Officer in 2015. She has vast experience in the areas of economics, commercial aspects, policy and planning for the oil and gas sector.

Director Environment, Health and Safety

Dr. Joseph Kobusheshe

Dr. Joseph Kobusheshe is a Civil and Environmental Engineer with over twenty-two years’ experience in Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) aspects of Uganda’s mining and Oil and Gas (O&G) sectors. He is the Director Environment, Health, and Safety at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda.  He is, therefore, responsible for overseeing the Authority’s role of ensuring that O&G activities are safely undertaken and do not cause adverse impacts on the environment and host communities. He has vast experience in development and regulation of EHS policy, legislation, standards, programmes and plans in the extractives industry.

Previously, he worked with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in various roles relating to EHS in the mining and petroleum sub-sectors.

Dr. Kobusheshe holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering and a Master of Science in Environmental and Resource Engineering, both from University of Nottingham, UK; a Master’s in Business Administration from the Eastern, and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI); and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Makerere University.

Director Legal and Corporate Affairs

Mr. Ali Ssekatawa

Mr. Ali Ssekatawa was appointed the Director for Legal and Corporate Affairs in the Petroleum Authority of Uganda during 2017, and has over 11 years’ experience, specializing in tax and oil and gas law. He served with the Uganda Revenue Authority from 2005, rose through the ranks, and was appointed Head of the Litigation portfolio and was a public tax prosecutor from 2011 to 2017.

Mr. Ssekatawa holds an MBA from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) and an LLM in Oil and Gas Law & Policy from the University of Dundee. He is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda and holds an LLB (Hons) from Makerere University. He has litigated and won ground breaking cases in Uganda and in other International Tribunals such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

He has been the Country Representative for Uganda on the African Team of Tax Experts under African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and also at the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information under the OECD. He is a certified Arbitrator for tax matters. He served as the Chairman of Uganda Revenue Football Club from 2009 to 2017, winning three national trophies.