By Ignatius Ssuuna

On February 26 police in Uganda’s capital of Kampala arrested and detained 11 environmental activists who were marching to Parliament to deliver a petition to the European Embassy protesting the ongoing construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.

The Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson confirmed the development: “We arrested 11 suspects at Crested Towers while protesting against EACOP, and we are currently detaining them here at the Central Police Station…The suspects will be charged with common nuisance and will be presented tomorrow (Feb. 27) before courts of law.”

The environmentalists, who are members of Students Against EACOP Uganda, were marching to European Union (EU) offices located at the Crested Tower to deliver a petition to Ambassador Jean Sadek, EU Ambassador to Uganda, demanding his direct intervention in stopping the construction of the EACOP pipeline.

The projected 1,443-km pipeline will be the longest electrically heated crude oil pipeline in the world and would run from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania. If constructed, the pipeline would transport crude oil extracted from Uganda’s oil fields beginning in 2027.

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Four partners are collaborating on the construction: Total Energies, the owner of a 62 per cent share; China National Oil Company (CNOOC) with an 8 per cent share; Uganda National Oil Company with a 15 per cent share; and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, also with a 15 per cent share.

The petition, which was signed by Yudah Kaye, head of Students Against EACOP Uganda, reads in part:

“Currently, under the leadership of Total Energies, the EACOP project developers are acquiring approximately 5,172 hectares of land including 1,109 and 4,063 hectares in Uganda and Tanzania respectively. This land is being forcibly seized from over 86,000 people from more than 13,292 project-affected households (PAHs) in the two countries.”

The petition alleges hardships already caused by the developers of the pipeline. “The compulsory land acquisition processes have caused gross human rights violations, key among which is putting land use restrictions on the PAHs. For instance, the EACOP-affected households were stopped from using their land to grow perennial food and cash crops from 2018 and 2019.”

The petition also accuses the developers of human rights violations: “The restrictions continue to date and have resulted in food insecurity, income loss, and school drop-outs, especially among girls and others. Moreover, the project is being implemented through coercive means. PAHs are denied the opportunity to give informed consent during the land acquisition, and those with grievances are either arrested or threatened with court action when they seek the project developers’ intervention.”

The Feb. 26 protests followed the dismissal on January 15 of the common nuisance case levied against the same youths in relation to their arrest on November 26, when they marched to Parliament over the same issue. The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court dismissed that case.  

Between May and November of 2024, the Students Against EACOP Uganda organized four anti-EACOP protests in Kampala that resulted in the arrests of 113 of their members. All were later released.

The petition created by Kaye on behalf of Students Against EACOP Uganda reads: “Nearly a third of EACOP will be constructed through the Lake Victoria basin. Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world and the largest inland freshwater lake in Africa. Up to 40 million people in East Africa rely on the lake to meet their water needs.”

In addition, the lake provides 39.9% of the fish catch in Uganda. All of the above make Lake Victoria an important resource for water, food and economic security. It is notable that the fisheries sector contributes 3% of Uganda’s GDP and is one of the country’s top foreign exchange earners. Because of the EACOP project, the lake’s important water, food and economic security roles are at risk due to potential oil spills.”