Uganda Detains 21 Environmental Protesters Opposing Controversial Oil Project

Ugandan police arrested 21 environmental activists in the capital, Kampala, on Monday as they protested against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP), a multi-billion-dollar oil development scheme led by French oil giant TotalEnergies. The arrests mark the latest episode in a series of escalating tensions between environmentalists and proponents of the project, which is set to transform Uganda’s economy while raising serious concerns about its impact on local communities and the environment.

The protesters, who included 19 men and two women, were detained as they attempted to march to the Ugandan parliament and the Chinese embassy. Their aim was to present a petition against the EACOP project, highlighting what they described as continued violations of human and environmental rights. According to Samuel Wanda, one of the defense lawyers representing the activists, the group was taken to Kampala’s central police station, where they remained in custody without clear charges being filed against them.

“The arrests are an attempt to silence those who are standing up for their rights and the environment,” Wanda said, noting that eight of the detainees are directly affected by the oil project. The petition the protesters sought to deliver expressed an “urgent appeal against the continued violations of human and environmental rights by the EACOP project,” asserting that the scheme poses a significant threat to Uganda’s local economies and has adverse social and cultural impacts.

The EACOP project, managed by TotalEnergies, involves drilling for oil in Uganda and transporting the crude through a 1,443-kilometre (900-mile) heated pipeline from the oilfields in northwestern Uganda to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Tanga. The pipeline passes through sensitive ecological zones, including Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area, which has raised alarms among environmentalists globally.

The oil reserves in Lake Albert, where the drilling is concentrated, are estimated to hold 6.5 billion barrels of crude, with approximately 1.4 billion barrels currently considered recoverable. TotalEnergies holds a 62-percent stake in the project, while Ugandan and Tanzanian state-owned oil companies each hold a 15-percent share, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) owns 8 percent.

Proponents of the project, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, argue that the oil development will be a major economic boon for Uganda, a landlocked country where many people live in poverty. Uganda’s first oil is expected to flow in 2025, nearly two decades after the reserves were first discovered. Museveni and other government officials have emphasized that the project will create jobs, improve infrastructure, and significantly boost national revenue.

However, environmental groups remain unconvinced, citing the severe consequences for local communities and ecosystems. They argue that the benefits of the project are outweighed by the environmental degradation and social disruptions it has caused. The drilling in Murchison Falls National Park, a biodiversity hotspot, is of particular concern, with fears that it could lead to habitat destruction and a decline in wildlife populations.

TotalEnergies has defended its operations, stating that it has taken extensive measures to mitigate environmental damage and ensure that those displaced by the project are fairly compensated. The company maintains that it is committed to adhering to environmental standards and that the pipeline’s construction and operation are being carried out with minimal ecological impact.

Despite these assurances, opposition to the project continues to grow both within Uganda and internationally. The arrests in Kampala have drawn criticism from human rights organizations and environmental advocates, who see the detentions as part of a broader pattern of repressing dissent in Uganda. As the country edges closer to becoming an oil producer, the tension between economic development and environmental preservation is likely to intensify, with activists vowing to keep up the fight against what they see as a catastrophic and unjust project.