A group of feminists have this Wednesday morning stormed TotalEnergies head office in Kampala’s Industrial Area (8th Street) to deliver a petition against the planned implementation of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
The group included student leaders like the 87th Makerere University guild president H.E Shamim Nambassa alongside other vibrant student leaders from Kyambogo University and other institutions.
Clad in black attire inscribed with words denouncing EACOP alongside placards with messages of solidarity with the European Union parliament, the activists marched towards TotalEnergies offices in Kampala.
The controversial oil pipeline project is intended to transport Crude Oil from Uganda’s oil fields in the Bunyoro subregion to Tanga port in Tanzania. Once completed, the 1,447 kms pipeline will be the longest-heated crude oil pipeline in the world. The pipeline will accordinf to environmentalists produce over 30 million carbon emissions annually.
However, its construction has drawn fierce criticism from across the globe, the latest was the European Union Parliament which raised concerns over human rights violations in both countries before asking TotalEnergies to delay the project for another year to allow ample time for the issues raised to be addressed.
According to Solomon Nabuyanda, an independent human rights defender who is part of today’s protest, in the petition, they seek to highlight the negative impact of the project on the environment and gender violence among the project-affected communities.
They also demand that TotalEnergies excuses itself from this project in order to protect families and the environment.