Uganda arrests 21 people protesting oil project

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Ugandan police arrested 21 environmentalists in the capital Kampala on Monday as they protested a controversial multi-billion dollar oil development project, their lawyer said.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, led by French oil giant TotalEnergies, involves drilling for oil in Uganda and sending the crude to Tanzania for export.

Environmental groups say the project has disastrous consequences for local communities and the environment because the drilling is taking place in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda's largest protected area.

“There are 21 people arrested, including 19 men and two women,” said Samuel Wanda, one of the defense lawyers.

The group had attempted to march on the Parliament and the Chinese embassy.

Eight of the detainees would be directly impacted by the TotalEnergies project, Wanda said.

He said the protesters were being held at Kampala Central Police Station, but officers had not yet specified the charges against them.

In a petition seen by AFP, protesters launched an “urgent appeal against the EACOP project's continued violations of human and environmental rights.”

The petition claims the oil project poses a “threat to Uganda's local economies” and has negative “social and cultural impacts.”

TotalEnergies and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are currently drilling in Lake Albert, which contains approximately 6.5 billion barrels of crude, of which approximately 1.4 billion barrels are currently considered recoverable.

The crude will be transported via a 1,443-kilometer (900-mile) heated pipeline from Uganda's northwestern oil fields to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean.

TotalEnergies holds a 62% stake in the pipeline, with Ugandan and Tanzanian state oil companies each holding 15% and CNOOC 8%.

Uganda's first oil production is expected in 2025, nearly two decades after reserves were discovered, and the project has been hailed by President Yoweri Museveni as an economic boon for the landlocked country where many people live in poverty.

TotalEnergies says people displaced by the project have been fairly compensated and measures have been taken to protect the environment.

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