President Museveni has described European union MPs as a group of young girls who can not lecture him on issues to do with Ugandan oil.
The tough-speaking Museveni made the comments following the European Union passed a resolution seeking to halt the construction of the East African crude oil pipeline citing human rights and biodiversity violations.
Museveni while speaking at the 7th Uganda International Oil and Gas Summit at the Kampala Serena hotel described the members of the European Parliament as young girls with no moral authority to give him lectures on Uganda’s oil.
“When you go to this parliament these are just young girls.” Museveni said
The president went on to say that the EU parliament can not lecture him on what to do.
You are lecturing me what to do in Uganda, you young girls?
Museveni further calls the EU parliament egocentric and shallow-minded
“Now for the European Union, some of these people are insufferable, you need to control yourselves not to explode. So shallow, so egocentric, so wrong but they think they know everything and broadcast their ignorance all over the place. This is the wrong battleground for them. We don’t take kindly to arrogance” he said
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP) is a pipeline that will transport oil produced from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania where the oil will then be sold onwards to world markets. The shareholders of what will be the world’s largest heated pipeline are: Uganda with 15%; the Joint Venture Partners (Total Holdings International B.V. with 62% and CNOOC Uganda Limited with 8%) and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC). The EU resolution called for an end to the extractive activities in protected and sensitive ecosystems, including the shores of Lake Albert, referring to the 132 wells that Total plans to dig into the Murchison Falls National Park.
Uganda’s president re-affirms that the pipeline construction will proceed undeterred by-the EU resolution.
“The plan will be implemented according to schedule and I hope our partners join us firmly and advise those.”
NUP president Kyagulanyi Sentamu Robert called out Museveni for his response to the EU parliament;
“Dictators are so predictable! Gen. Museveni describes the EU Parliament as INSUFFERABLE, SHALLOW, IGNORANT, EGOCENTRIC, and some of its members as young girls who are trying to lecture him! Simply because they called him out on human rights violations related to the Oil Pipeline!” Kyagulanyi wrote on his twitter handle
According to worldometer, Uganda holds 2,500,000,000 barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, ranking 31st in the world and accounting for about 0.2% of the world’s total oil reserves of 1,650,585,140,000 barrels. Uganda has proven reserves equivalent to 214.0 times its annual consumption.
