By Alex Masereka Joel
European Union Parliamentarians find themselves between a rock and a hard a place after patriotic Ugandans launched an online petition in response to their resolution on Uganda’s oil.
The petition launched by Western Youth Forum, is being widely shared and signed in Uganda and beyond by nationals including top government officials, challenging the EU parliament’s pronouncement on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
UPDF Land Forces Commander, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba is the latest to urge Ugandans to sign the petition, calling it a fight for Africa’s sovereinity.
On Thursday, the EU parliament adopted a so called urgent resolution denouncing the human rights violations as well as the major environmental and climate risks posed by the Tilenga and EACOP projects, developed by Total in Uganda and Tanzania.
However, the decision has been met with stiff resistance by majority Ugandans including the country’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
“We should remember that Total Energies convinced me about the Pipeline idea; if they choose to listen to the EU Parliament, we shall find someone else to work with,” President Museveni said on Friday evening.
The EACOP, a US$ 3.5bn project is one of the three major oil and gas infrastructure projects Uganda and its partners including; TotalEnergies E&P Uganda Ltd, CNOOC Uganda Ltd, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) are working tirelessly to build before commercialization of the country’s petroleum resources in 2025.
The pipeline will be the longest heated crude oil outlet in the world, at 1,443km, running from Kabaale in the mid-western Uganda district of Hoima to the Tanga port on the Tanzanian coast of the Indian Ocean. In Uganda, the pipeline covers 296km and cuts through 10 districts, 22 sub-counties, four small towns, 41 parishes and over 170 villages.
He added, “Either way, we shall have our oil coming out by 2025 as planned. So, the people of Uganda should not worry.”
The president’s comments came a day after the Deputy Speaker of Parliament had also hit back at the EU Parliament’s resolution.
“I condemn the motion for a resolution by the European Union Parliament that calls on the Uganda and Tanzania to stop the development of the oil and gas projects in the East African region. The resolution is based on misinformation and deliberate misrepresentation of key facts on environment and human rights protection. It represents the highest level on neo-colonialism and imperialism against the sovereignty of Uganda and Tanzania,” Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa said on Wednesday.
Speaking on the petition, city lawyer Ian Gumisiriza, a coordinator of the WYF, said the action is aimed at sending a message to the EU that Uganda will make her own choices regarding how to utilise resources.
