Ugandan opposition figure Bobi Wine objects to oil pipeline
Ugandan opposition figure Bobi Wine says that a planned pipeline to export oil is likely to entrench the long rule of President Yoweri Museveni
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A planned pipeline to export oil from Uganda is likely to entrench the long rule of President Yoweri Museveni, opposition figure Bobi Wine said Tuesday, voicing his opposition to a project that's increasingly controversial over environmental concerns.
Wine, a singer and former lawmaker who ran for president in 2021, is the most prominent Ugandan to object to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline that has run into headwinds as activists pile pressure on France's TotalEnergies and its Chinese partner to pull out.
The European Union legislature passed a resolution last month urging TotalEnergies to delay work on the pipeline by at least a year, citing rights violations and environmental fears. Campaigners say the 897-mile (1,443-kilometer) heated pipeline — to link oil fields in western Uganda to neighboring Tanzania's Indian Ocean port of Tanga — violates the spirit of the Paris climate accord. They are trying to prevent the EU from providing any funds to the project.
Wine, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, said last month that he supports the EU Parliament's stance, drawing anger from some here who charged that he's not sufficiently patriotic.
