President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has scoffed at efforts by European Union Parliamentarians to sabotage Uganda’s oil pipeline project.
The President on Friday evening took to Twitter to throw his weight behind the deputy Speaker Hon Thomas Tayebwa who termed the EU decision as “economic racism.”
Museveni wrote: “The remarks of the Deputy Speaker and the Attorney General in one of the dailies concerning the EU Parliament and EACOP interested me in making some comments of reassurance to our people.”
He added: “I want to assure you that the project shall proceed as stipulated in the contract we have with TotalEnergies and CNOOC.”
He reminded the foreigners that Total Energies convinced him about the Pipeline idea and “if they choose to listen to the EU Parliament, we shall find someone else to work with.”
He said: “Either way, we shall have our oil coming out by 2025 as planned. So, the people of Uganda should not worry.”
Lawmakers led by Tayebwa on Thursday condemned Members of European Union Parliament, accusing them of economic sabotage, racism and interference over a motion seeking to block the Shs14 trillion oil pipeline project.
“This motion seeks to curtail the progress of Uganda’s Oil and Gas developments and by extension, the country’s socio-econmic growth and development….the resolution represents the highest level of neo-colonialism and imperialism against the sovereignty of Uganda and Tanzania,” Mr Tayebwa’ s statement reads.
The EU Parliament voted on a motion for a resolution to stop the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), citing human rights violations and the negative environmental effects of the project both in Uganda and Tanzania.
Tayebwa said the motion is based on misinformation and deliberate misrepresentation of facts on environment and human rights protection aimed at sabotaging Uganda’s economic development.
The EU Parliamentarians advised member countries not to render any diplomatic and financial support to Uganda-Tanzania oil pipeline project.
In a statement backed by lawmakers, the Deputy Speaker talked of “economic racism” targeting developing countries and described the EU motion as a direct attack on not only the sovereignty of Parliament, but the whole country.
“Uganda is a developing country, and a sovereign state that has its unique development needs and priorities. I, therefore, call upon the European Union Parliament to withdraw the motion for a resolution that is against the UN Charter that provides for Uganda’s right to self-determination and sovereignty over its natural resources,” Mr Tayebwa said.
He added: “These are individual MPs abusing their authority. You want to say we did not do a good job here? That they have more information about our resources than we do? This is just a scare of seeing an African country going to progress, and you would no longer be begging every day. You can question anything but issues of economic sabotage and blackmail.”
The EACOP is a 1,445 kilometer pipeline that will transport crude oil from the Albertine Graben to the coast and the international market.
Government is relying on the more than six billion barrels of the resource to move the country to middle income status, provide jobs, among other benefits. More than Shs14 trillion is expected to be invested in the pipeline works alone.
Tayebwa said the premise on climate change as advanced by the European legislators is disproportionately applied to Africa, yet member states of the EU continue to explore and use fossil fuels, including plans for future drilling.
