FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Rooted in Resistance has intensified its campaign for an oil-free, people-centred and economically independent Uganda, calling upon the Parliament of Uganda and TotalEnergies Uganda to reconsider the country’s continued commitment to petroleum extraction and oil infrastructure.
The campaign has submitted petitions to both Parliament and TotalEnergies, challenging the assumption that oil is the inevitable path to Uganda’s prosperity and demanding a development model centred on Ugandan citizens, productive industries, environmental protection and future generations. Our message is clear “Uganda does not have to choose between development and the environment. We must choose better development.”
OIL MUST NOT BECOME UGANDA’S ECONOMIC DESTINY
For years, oil has been presented as a pathway to employment, industrialization, infrastructure and poverty reduction. Rooted in Resistance argues that petroleum extraction cannot provide the scale of economic opportunity required by Uganda’s rapidly growing population.
Oil is capital-intensive and finite. It cannot permanently sustain an economy or provide meaningful economic participation for millions of Ugandans. The question is therefore not simply how much oil Uganda can extract, but what kind of economy can create lasting prosperity for the greatest number of Ugandans. True economic freedom means empowering citizens to produce, innovate, own enterprises, build industries and participate directly in wealth creation. Uganda’s greatest assets are its people, fertile land, water resources, biodiversity, youthful population and entrepreneurial capacity.
PARLIAMENT MUST RISE TO ITS RESPONSIBILITY
Rooted in Resistance calls upon Parliament to exercise its constitutional responsibility to protect the national interest and reconsider Uganda’s petroleum-dependent development model. The petition invokes citizens’ constitutional right to participate in governance under Article 38, alongside constitutional protections concerning expression and assembly. We therefore call upon Parliament to halt further expansion of oil infrastructure, review petroleum policies and agreements transparently, and redirect national priorities towards agriculture, manufacturing, renewable energy, tourism, technology, education, innovation and locally owned enterprises, that benefit the all citizens wholesomely.
History should judge Parliament not by the quantity of oil extracted, but by whether it built an economy capable of providing jobs, industries, businesses, dignity and economic freedom for Ugandans.
TOTALENERGIES MUST RECONSIDER TILENGA
Rooted in Resistance equally calls upon TotalEnergies Uganda to reconsider its continued involvement in the Tilenga oil project and engage meaningfully with Ugandan citizens, affected communities, environmental organisations, researchers and other stakeholders.
Tilenga is situated within the environmentally and economically sensitive Albertine region, where communities, wildlife, forests, wetlands, water systems and tourism assets are interconnected. Our concern is not only about oil wells, but the broader development pathway created by petroleum infrastructure and the opportunity costs of directing capital and national attention towards a finite resource.
We urge TotalEnergies to redirect meaningful investment and expertise towards renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, agro-processing, local manufacturing, tourism, conservation, technology, skills development and youth enterprise which support livelihoods.
OUR CALL TO PARLIAMENT AND TOTALENERGIES
We call upon Parliament of Uganda to halt further oil infrastructure expansion, review petroleum policies and agreements transparently, strengthen protection of communities and natural resources, and prioritise productive sectors capable of creating broad-based wealth and Place long-term national interests and intergenerational justice at the centre of economic planning.
We call upon TotalEnergies Uganda to reconsider and withdraw from the Tilenga project, engage affected communities transparently, ensure fair treatment of those affected by its operations, redirect meaningful investment towards sustainable and productive sectors and Support Uganda’s transition towards a diversified, renewable and economically independent future.
Rooted in Resistance therefore calls upon Parliament and TotalEnergies to listen, engage and reconsider the current direction of petroleum expansion. The future of Uganda must not be determined by what lies beneath our soil when the country’s greatest resource is the people who live upon it.
Our demand is clear: an oil-free economy, economic freedom, environmental protection and development that leaves Uganda stronger not more dependent for generations to come.
ROOTED IN RESISTANCE
For and on behalf of concerned citizens of Uganda