Fred Kabanda, a geoscientist currently heading the Non-Renewable Natural Resources Division at the African Development Bank’s African Natural Resources Management and Investment Centre, has been selected as the new Executive Director of the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU).

Highly placed sources in the petroleum sector and government confirm that Kabanda will succeed Ernest Rubondo, whose second and final term as PAU Executive Director ended on 31 August 2026. Rubondo had led the regulator for a decade since its establishment.

In the interim, Energy and Mineral Development Minister Dr Monica Musenero appointed Michael Otonga Ochan, PAU’s Director of Finance and Corporate Services, as Acting Executive Director effective 1 September 2026. Otonga will hold the position until the Executive Director-designate formally assumes office.

PAU Board Chairperson Lynda Biribonwa confirmed that the Minister had approved the appointment of a new Executive Director. “The Honourable Minister and the Board of Directors are working to finalise the onboarding of the Executive Director-designate, whose details will be communicated in due course,” she said in a statement.

Kabanda previously served as Assistant Commissioner for Oil and Gas Development and Production in the former Petroleum Exploration and Production Department. He was part of the early exploration teams that confirmed Uganda’s commercial oil discoveries in the mid-2000s before moving to the African Development Bank, where he oversees mining, oil and gas policy and investment work across the continent.

The leadership transition comes at a critical moment for Uganda’s petroleum sector as the country prepares for first oil production from the Tilenga and Kingfisher projects and the start of commercial exports of Pearl Sweet crude via the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

PAU has stated that its operations, management structures and reporting lines remain unchanged during the transition period to ensure continuity of regulatory oversight and service delivery.

Rubondo’s decade at the helm oversaw the institutional development of PAU and the regulation of major projects as they advanced from exploration through construction towards production. The incoming leadership will inherit the task of guiding the sector through the produc