Uganda rejects European Parliament resolution against its pipeline

Nairobi, September 16 (EFE). The Ugandan parliament has accused the European Parliament of “economic sabotage”, after MEPs on Thursday approved a resolution condemning human rights violations and against the environment during the construction of a huge oil pipeline between Uganda and Tanzania.

Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Thomas Tiboa, said in remarks collected on Friday in local media.

“This decision represents the highest level of neo-colonialism and imperialism against the sovereignty of Uganda and Tanzania,” he added.

On Thursday, the European Parliament urged a one-year delay in the construction of a pipeline, financed by French multinational Total, that will transport oil from western Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga in the Indian Ocean.

The European Parliament has also proposed searching for an alternative pipeline route that avoids protected natural spaces, and denounced human rights violations such as the arbitrary detention of activists who opposed the construction of this infrastructure or the forced eviction of communities.

In addition, MEPs advised European Union (EU) member states not to provide diplomatic or financial support for the construction of the pipeline.

However, Tiboa noted that this decision was based on false information or a deliberate misrepresentation.

According to him, more than 70% of those affected by the acquisition of land for the construction of the pipeline have been compensated or resettled, and efforts are being made to fully compensate all affected communities.

The Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament also pointed out that it is unfair for the European Union to accuse Uganda of contributing to the climate crisis by exporting its oil reserves at the same time that European countries are responsible for a large part of the emissions of polluting gases for all. Universe.

“Recently 53 licenses were issued in the North Sea and Germany restarted its coal plants. In addition, Western countries are looking at how to import natural gas from African countries. All this is to ensure energy security. Is Energy Security an exclusive portfolio of the European Union? Does it not have Uganda the same rights?

The pipeline, which will allow Uganda to distribute its oil to markets around the world via cargo ships, is being financed by both French multinational Total and the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

While the governments of Tanzania and Uganda have celebrated this massive project as an opportunity to create jobs and expand the economies of the two countries, organizations such as Oxfam and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have warned that nature reserves and the media are at risk. The livelihood of thousands of people.

The pipeline, which will cost about $10 billion, is scheduled to start operating in 2025.

So Uganda hopes to become an oil exporter, a location it has been aspiring to since 2006, when geologists found the fourth largest crude oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa around Lake Albert, on Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. .EFE

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