Twenty-one environmentalists were detained by Ugandan police in Kampala as they protested against a controversial multi-billion-dollar oil development scheme, according to their legal representative.
“There are 21 individuals in custody, 19 of whom are male and two female,” stated Samuel Wanda, one of the attorneys.
The group had tried to march on the parliament and the Chinese embassy. Wanda mentioned that eight of the detainees would be directly affected by the TotalEnergies project.
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP), led by the French oil company TotalEnergies, entails extracting oil in Uganda and transporting it to Tanzania for export.
Environmental organisations argue that drilling in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area, severely affects local communities and the environment.
In a document obtained by AFP, the protesters made an “urgent plea to stop the ongoing violations of human and environmental rights associated with the EACOP project.”
TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are conducting drilling activities in Lake Albert. The lake is believed to hold approximately 6.5 billion barrels of crude oil, of which around 1.4 billion barrels are currently considered recoverable.
The crude oil will be transported through a 1,443-kilometre (900-mile) heated pipeline from the oilfields in northwestern Uganda to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania.
TotalEnergies holds a 62-per cent stake in the pipeline, while the Ugandan and Tanzanian state-owned oil companies each hold 15 per cent, and CNOOC holds eight per cent.
Uganda is anticipated to commence oil production in 2025, nearly 20 years after the discovery of the reserves. President Yoweri Museveni has portrayed the project as a significant economic opportunity for the country, which is predominantly grappling with poverty.
TotalEnergies claims that adequate compensation has been provided to those displaced by the project and that measures have been implemented to safeguard the environment.
