By Busain Samilu
A section of students from various Universities including; Makerere, Kyambogo, Makerere University Business school (MUBS), under their Students Against EACOP Uganda grouping have, petitioned the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, asking the House to prioritise and discuss environmental issues being raised on the negative impact of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop).
Led by Martha Amviko from Kyambogo, John Otule from Makerere and Yuda Kaye from MUBS, the students yesterday marched to the House while shouting ‘stop Eacop’ before Parliament police intercepted them near the main gate and engaged them.
The three leaders were then escorted to deliver their petition to the Parliament leadership.
In their petition, the students say the construction of the 1,443km heated pipeline from Hoima to Tanga, in Tanzania poses existential consequences to most of the regions natural resources especially Lake Victoria where a third of it passes, forests and rivers.
“The project threatens biodiversity loss where hundreds of wildlife will be displaced once constructed as this passes through most of the prominent national parks like Murchison falls national park, Queen Elizabeth National Park,” reads part of the petition.
“Eacop once constructed threatens the regions biodiversity as it passes through the regions national parks and greatly contributes to mass extinction of the most endangered species like the great apes and hugely puts at risk their survival as the oil pipeline would escalate the level of carbon emissions and hence contributes to a growing frustration and justification for an urgent need to protect the endangered species,” it adds.
Their petition comes about six months after the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed a case that had been filed by civil society organizations opposing the construction of the pipeline.
Like the students’ arguments, the activists in their 2020 lawsuit informed the EACJ that the project will harm fragile ecosystems in areas rich in biodiversity as well as the livelihoods of tens of thousands of local people.
Five judges in their ruling said that the activists had filed the case late and therefore it could not be adjudicated upon “for having been filed outside the time period prescribed”
The project also nearly faced a setback in September 2022 when the European Union Parliament called for its halting over allegations of human rights violation which was later cleared after it was realised that it was not true.
Eacop is a 1,443km crude export pipeline system that will be constructed to transport crude oil from Kabaale – Hoima District in Uganda to a maritime port facility on the Chongoleani peninsula Tanga in Tanzania.
It is being constructed by four partners including Total Energies who owns 62 percent shares, China National Offshore Oil Company (Cnooc) with 8 percent, Ugandan and Tanzanian governments each with 15 percent shares.
The pipeline will pass through 10 districts of; Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Gomba, Sembabule, Lwengo, Rakai and Kyotera; 27 Sub-counties, threeTown Councils and one hundred seventy-one (171) villages.
Ms Amviko said that the pipeline construction has resulted in the displacement of thousands of Ugandans from their ancestral lands making them lose their properties.
“French giant Total Energies and Cnooc have since then promised to compensate the victims but testimonies that have widely been shared on the internet prove that a biased compensation process that has entirely excluded a number of the persons affected by the pipeline was conducted leaving these people frustrated and starving and some have been displaced to refugee settlement camps,” she said.
Government and oil companies have on several occasions denied harassing locals and claims that the project has environmental dangers.
This was the first time the students have been escorted to submit their petition to the Parliament leadership. The previous attempts police have been arresting them from outside Parliament.
In their petition, the students want Parliament to order an immediate reinstatement of people who were evicted off their land, table a motion that will safeguard Ugandans’ safety, and unveil efforts towards safeguarding the environment
“Our humble plea is for you to prioritize the will of ordinary Ugandans against a few individuals that want to reap big from the suffering of Ugandans by registering record profits. We will remain committed to complying with anything as long as it meets the above demands and puts the government at the right side of history,” they said in the
