President William Ruto’s meeting with Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni this week shouldn’t have been big news. They had been political buddies after all.

Except they hadn’t been reading from the same script lately, after Uganda opted for a plan B in importing oil and sued Kenya at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ). This week, fuelled by his own needs, President Ruto travelled to Kisozi in western Uganda, where he met with President Museveni.

In the meeting there was also Raila Odinga, Kenya’s opposition leader who Nairobi wants to be the next African Union Commission chairperson, and has been lobbying neighbours like Uganda for votes. Who exactly fixed the meeting is still a matter of conjecture, although credible sources told The EastAfrican that both President Ruto and Mr Odinga requested to see the Ugandan leader.

The initial intent, sources say, was to try to resolve the oil import dispute, a matter Mr Odinga was to mediate. The second was to discuss the Democratic Republic of Congo conflict and the third, to front Mr Odinga as the a candidate for the AUC seat and seek the support of Uganda in galvanising a divided East African Community (EAC).

President Museveni issued a statement, saying they discussed matters of mutual benefit and the EAC in general.

“I was happy to meet President Ruto and Rt Hon Odinga this afternoon at my farm in Kisozi. We discussed issues of mutual interest between our two countries and the East African Community,” he said. But President Ruto went further, indicating there is a path now to resolving the oil import dispute.

“We have agreed on a way forward of sourcing and scheduling imports for the region in a manner that will ensure we achieve the most competitive pricing and maximum logistical efficiency,” Presdent Ruto said.

One way of resolving the impasse is to grant Uganda specific privileges to import and schedule its own products. A source said that includes registering the Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) in Kenya and hence depart from an earlier stance by Nairobi when Uganda requested, to operate as an oil marketer in Kenya. The conditions put forth by Nairobi, however, require that Uganda first withdraws the case at the EACJ.