Socio-Economic Effects Of Oil Exploration Among Hoima Municipality Communities, Uganda

ABSTRACT

This research investigated the socio-economic effects of oil exploration among Hoima municipality communities, Uganda. The study objectively sought to establish the effects of oil surveying to changes in prices of commodities; to examine road construction effects to changes in income; and to ascertain the effects of collection of seismic data on the influx of people. To achieve this, a descriptive analytical research design using quantitative and qualitative approach was used, where social economic effects resulting from oil surveying and mapping were answered using qualitative approach; and the effects of road construction, economic transformation, influx of people were answered using both qualitative and quantitative approach. The study used a sample of 146 respondents and simple random sampling and purposive sampling were used because respondents had equal chances of being selected. Data were coded and entered in the Computer and cleaned, checked and statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software package to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive analysis was applied to describe the primary variable and associated indicator items related to the study objectives. The study found out that there was increased land grabbing correlated with road construction in response to the compensation of residents in areas where road construction took place; respondents strongly agreed that oil roads have led to improvement in incomes of communities (mean 4.00); respondents strongly agreed that there was creation of temporary employment (mean 4.00). It was concluded that drastic commodity price increases were reported (mean 4.14). The research findings will inform appropriate interventions among communities who are stakeholders where oil exploration takes place.