Uganda will NOT be intimidated! President Yoweri Museveni has sent shockwaves through Nairobi after fiercely declaring that Uganda’s independent oil dreams are non-negotiable—even as Kenya breaks ground on a monstrous $16 billion oil mega-project backed by Africa’s richest man.
Standing right next to a smiling Kenyan President William Ruto and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote at the launch of the 700,000-barrel-per-day Lamu Refinery, Museveni completely stole the spotlight. Instead of just playing nice, the Ugandan strongman boldly fired back at critics, commanding: “We are going to build a small refinery in Uganda. We had planned this long ago. We can’t change that!“
But Museveni didn’t stop there. In a move that has political analysts buzzing, he publicly exposed regional failures by demanding to know why Tanzania’s refinery in Tanga has mysteriously stalled. “I want to find out what happened… What was the problem?” Museveni barked, vowing to corner Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu and Ruto for immediate answers.
While Dangote tried to sweeten the deal by offering East African governments a 30% share in the profits of the new Lamu plant, Museveni brutally shot down the gesture as a half-measure. He warned that pocketing cash profits means nothing if local youth are left jobless. “It does not answer the issue of jobs,” Museveni argued, blasting how Africa is constantly robbed by exporting raw commodities like oil, gold, and coffee for peanuts while buying back expensive finished goods.
With Kenya boasting that the LAPSSET corridor project will create 60,000 explosive construction jobs and process crude from Turkana and the DRC, Museveni’s stubborn refusal to surrender Uganda’s energy sovereignty has set the stage for an all-out economic war for supremacy in East Africa.
