Police in Kampala have arrested nine youths who had stormed the head offices of Stanbic Bank, accusing it of committing to fund the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) project.
The suspects, members of the Students Against Eacop Uganda group, are being held at the Kampala Central Police station. These are part of the over 50 activists who participated in this march.
“We have nine suspects in our custody, and we shall charge them with Common Nuisance and shall present them to Court either today or tomorrow early morning,” said Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson.
Stanbic Bank is one of the banks that have committed to funding the 1443km heated pipeline which, upon completion, shall transport Uganda’s wax crude oil from Uganda to Tanzania for exportation.
On March 27, the EACOP holding company, responsible for constructing the pipeline, announced the completion of the first round of debt financing with a consortium of five African and Middle Eastern banks, indicating a slow return of investor confidence in the Uganda-Tanzania pipeline project, which has long faced opposition from environmentalists.
South Africa’s Standard Bank and its Ugandan subsidiary, Stanbic Bank, lead the group of African banks, alongside Egypt’s African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) and KCB Bank Uganda Ltd, a subsidiary of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group, in committing to fund the project.
In the April 2 petition seen by this website, the environmentalists reminded Mr Kalifungwa, that the project they plan to finance has already been rejected by 43 banks and 29 insurers worldwide due to its disastrous potential impacts.
They also pointed out that the project has led to the displacement of over 10,000 families and the arrest of over 100 activists, with ongoing abductions.
“At a time when the world is grappling with the escalating effects of climate change, the decision to finance a massive fossil fuel infrastructure project is not only irresponsible; it is an active assault on our planet and our people. EACOP promises to intensify the climate crisis, exacerbating droughts, floods, and extreme weather events that disproportionately affect African communities, who have contributed the least to the climate crisis yet bear the brunt of its severe consequences,” reads part of the petition.
It continues, “We have consistently highlighted the potential hazards of the controversial EACOP, including severe impacts on wildlife habitats, community displacement, and intensified climate change due to increased greenhouse gas emissions.”
Yudah Kaye, the Chief Mobiliser of Students Against EACOP Uganda, who took the petition to the bank, said, “We want the bank to inform Ugandans if this is part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. They are using our hard-earned money to fund a project that harms our environment and has caused suffering to thousands of families,” said
The $5b (Shs18t) EACOP project, is a 1,443 km pipeline that will transport Uganda’s waxy crude oil from the oil fields in mid-western Uganda to Tanga port on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania.
The project is jointly owned by French oil giant TotalEnergies (62 percent), the Uganda National Oil Company Limited (UNOC – 15 percent), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC – 8 percent), and Tanzania’s Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC – 15 percent) under EACOP Ltd.
