Opinion: Just small small EACOP progress but Mzungu is on rampage

By Michael Woira

Ever since we discovered oil here in Uganda, a lot has been happening including a lot of activism and opposition towards the whole process of achieving our goals of oil production.

At first it was the political leaders in the opposition who kept saying that there was no oil and then the very people who were shouting on top of their voices saying there was no oil turned round to be the advocates for the people in the Albertine region citing need for compensation and first priority for the region in all that is happening there.

After seeing that there was a lot of progress in the region, the debate changed from “there is no oil; “ oil was all taken” etc, to creating a very good number of Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s) that were termed as environmental activism organizations.

These organizations have really sucked money from several world climate and environment related organizations claiming to be the overseers of what God created (Earth and the Universe).

Of course many will say that this is the wrong time to say this but I think the wrong time to say something is also the best time to assess the gist of a difficult argument like the current one on EACOP.

I would like to state that the world population especially the youth who are of sound mind should just quit this full-time activism, refuse to work in non-profit organizations that influence them to be against development of areas where they stay, sack themselves as humanitarians, and avoid this kind of self-importance that originates from the Western world.

Personally, I think these youth should instead do business and make clean money other than depending on blackmail for a living.

It was last month that I started seeing a section of environmental activists on social media in a campaign dubbed “StopEACOP”, the campaign is strictly against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

This whole campaign according to details is being spearheaded by the so called “GREEN MOVEMENT” whose origin is in the west.

Ms Dominika Lasota is one activist I saw in a video that was all over social media as she was demanding that the President of France H.E Emmanuel Macron denounces the EACOP project which is being funded by TotalEnergies.

I saw Lasota demanding that Macron should be the one to end the era of fossils by making sure that the EACOP project is not funded and that Macron advocates for the construction of the pipeline to stop.

Imagine such kind of activism by someone who has even never been close to Uganda or even in East Africa.

I am very sure that this lady is just being influenced by a number of haters who must be in some NGO’s that need funds to continue operating and now is the time for them to use the EACOP as their

main scapegoat.

In fact,  I have seen young people like our own Nakate also doing the same, calling the Mzungu to make sure the project stops, it’s laughable that young people like her who would be jubilating that her country has now achieved and will start oil production is the very person who is fighting so hard that the project fails and thousands of Ugandans become jobless and poor.

Maybe, if these activists are ignorant about the issue, I can avail a few details here. This EACOP will

commercialize Uganda's oil resources hence bringing in Direct Foreign Income from the sales of the crude oil.

The project has already undergone an extensive Environmental Social Impact Assessment that was conducted based on IFC standards and international best practices after which it was approved.

So, any time from now, the pipeline construction will start without fail no matter the social media noise by the activists.

Talking about the issues lined up by the activist, the pipeline is designed with a sufficient wall thickness and will be buried deep enough to avoid external interference; it will also be laid with a fiber optical cable that will detect any intrusion in the right of way and any leakage on the pipeline.

It will also be installed with various accurate instruments (pressure, temperature and flow rate measurement) that provide inputs to a real-time transient model to detect, and quantify any leakage.

I have also heard of another group that was organized and set to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican to ask for his support in their campaign to stop the construction of the EACOP.

This is a lot of negative energy that I think is not required at all because it disrupts development of our region, any attempt to attack the EACOP is an attack on the East African Community and we as a region should stand to defend and fight for what belongs to us other than being trampled by the whiteman to be against a project that is changing our lives.

Do these activists know how many companies that are benefiting from the oil production works?, do they know how many people that have been employed by Total Energies, CNOOC, UNOC and the other companies since the discovery of oil in the Albertine?, and do they even know how the region has developed since the oil discovery?

The devil is a liar and they are now becoming servants and disciples of the devil.

I am not saying that the young should not be interested in the well-being of other people, or that they should soundlessly abide by whatever is being done by governments in the areas where they stay but we can still serve our nations better by not attacking and fighting progress of projects that are of importance to others.

Therefore, I ask my fellow young people to avoid being trapped in the unhappiness of ambition and we shouldn’t waste our lives in dull corporate slavery that only aims at making a selected few wealthy and leave the largest number broke and impoverished.

Michael Woira

Patriotic Ugandan