When he addressed the 7th Annual Uganda International Oil and Gas Summit (UlOGS) at Serena Hotel in Kampala on Tuesday, September 27, Uganda’s President Gen Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni blasted some young boys and girls in the European Union (EU) Parliament over a resolution for the halting of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) over environmental and human rights concerns.
Gen Museveni described some of the EU MPs as “insufferable” and “so wrong” boys and girls who cannot lecture him on what to do with the country’s oil projects.
The 78-year-old president who has ruled Uganda since 1986 also reiterated his previous statement that “our oil exploration plans will proceed as prior despite the wrongly-placed criticism from European Union MPs.”
Clearly, the issue of the EU resolution is a sticky one. The president is expected to further talk about this matter when he addresses the nation at 8pm on Wednesday, September 28. The Wednesday address will also touch on the issue of the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
When he spoke at the Kampala Serena Hotel on Tuesday, Museveni might have had 29-year-old Malte Gallee, a member of the EU Parliament who co-initiated the resolution on the EACOP. So, who is Malte Gallee, the young man giving sleepless nights to Gen Museveni, the ruler that Kenyan President William Ruto recently described as ‘Father of the Region?’
Malte Gallee is the youngest German Member of the European Parliament Greens/EFA Group which comprises Green, Pirate, independent MEPs & MEPs representing stateless nations and minorities.
According to the information posted on his website, Malte Gallee was “born and raised in a town of 28 people near Heidenheim.”
He says that the reactor disaster of Fukushima was “decisive for the beginning of my political engagement.”
Malte Gallee also says he is a publisher of a small book on the German energy transition.
He further notes that he has worked for the Tanzania Renewable Energy Association. The resolution against EACOP affects both Tanzania and Uganda.
Born on September 5, 1993 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, MEP Malte Gallee also boasts of “my many years of campaigning for international aid organizations such as Amnesty International, UN Refugee Agency or WWF in over 70 different cities in Germany,” a feat that he says offered him “the opportunity to inspire thousands of people to get involved for a fairer world.”
On his vision, Malte Gallee writes: “I envision a global economy that ensures prosperity for all people on the planet without destroying our common livelihoods. For the preservation of an environment worth living in and for the long-term security of the ever-increasing demand for resources, we need a true circular economy. This fundamental change in our economic model is the goal of my work in Parliament.”
Regarding the EACOP project, Gallee has insisted: “The EACOP project is a danger! We cannot accept European companies like TotalEnergies to be involved in these severe human rights violations. And don’t you feel climate crisis kicking in?”
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
About two weeks ago, the EU Parliament passed a resolution halting the EACOP project. (See why Here).
In response, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa issued a statement condemning the EU Parliament for its resolution. (Read full statement Here).
Uganda’s environmental authority Nema also responded to the EU Parliament. (Read Story Here).
Gen Museveni has said nobody will stop Uganda’s oil projects, and told off ‘young, arrogant, ignorant, insufferable’ EU MPs to stop lecturing him. (Read Story Here).
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