An Australian company has announced the discovery of oil in western Uganda.
The company, Hardman Resources, says it struck oil after three weeks of drilling in Kaisotonya village. The village is in the Hoima District, 220 kilometers northwest of the capital, Kampala.
Company officials say they do not how much oil is at the site.
But a Ugandan government spokesman, Robert Kabushenga, tells VOA that "Uganda is very prepared" to use oil revenues to alleviate poverty.
Use of oil revenue is an issue in Nigeria, Chad, and other African countries, where government critics say little of the oil wealth trickles down the poor.
Mr. Kabushenga says critics should assign more blame to foreign oil companies who extract the oil from the ground.