To emphasise his point, Besigye claimed that after Museveni negotiated the deal, the country’s oil was now out of his hand and now belongs to certain “people”.
The leader of the pressure group People’s Front for Transition (PFT) Dr Kizza Besigye has asked President Yoweri Museveni to avail the Ugandan public with the country’s oil sharing agreements as Ugandans are unaware how he negotiated said oil agreements.
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“We should not call this oil ours. Museveni has already given this oil to these people. The main issue here is we want to know how Mr. Museveni negotiated oil agreements. The oil sharing agreements must be known to Ugandans,” he said.
Besigye said there was opposition to the oil deal because many Ugandans believe it will benefit a few. Yet it can and should benefit all Ugandans, if properly handled.
“We are fighting the thieves and the corrupt from developing and benefiting from the oil sector. Total and CNOOC [China National Offshore Oil Corporation] must listen to our concerns and engage all Ugandans regarding the pipeline. The security of the pipeline will depend on the goodwill of people,” he said.
Besigye asked the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to work with Ugandans and not against them by working with those who have their personal instead of the public interest at heart.
“We want transparency and accountability in the oil sector so that the proceeds from oil can be used to meet the current social needs of Ugandans, and plan for future generations. We don’t want thieves to benefit from oil,” he said.
Recently, the European Parliament adopted a resolution stopping the EACOP until certain environmental concerns and human rights issues are addressed.
Museveni recently said the project will go on regardless and commercial oil production will start in 2025.