FOR PEOPLE

For People

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline will jeopardize important ecosystems, fuel climate change and pose significant risks to millions of people.

Nearly a third of the pipeline will run through the basin of Africa’s largest lake, Lake Victoria, which more than 40 million people depend on for water and food production. It will cross numerous rivers and run through thousands of farms.

Just one spill or leak could have absolutely catastrophic effects on these vital freshwater sources and the millions of people that depend on them. The likelihood of a spill or leak is high, not only resulting from accidental damage or poor maintenance, but also because the pipeline will traverse an active seismic zone that regularly experiences earthquakes.

If this isn’t bad enough, Total and its partners have opted for the lowest cost option, open cut trenching, for almost all water crossings—rather than meeting industry best practice.

EACOP and the oil extraction projects it will enable will cause considerable physical and economic displacement. Over 100,000 people across Uganda and Tanzania will lose the land they rely on for farming and animal raising, and many will be forcibly removed from their homes. 

Land acquisition and resettlement processes for EACOP and the associated oil fields have already begun and communities report a lack of transparency and delays in compensation, which have impacted livelihoods, exacerbated food insecurity and disrupted school attendance. Local landowners that resist this process have faced intimidation and manipulation, forcing them to give up their land for derisory cash compensation. These impacts all have gendered effects – disproportionately harming women and girls in the region.

Multinational oil corporations have been making all sorts of empty promises to the people of Uganda and neighboring countries, but the reality is, this project is simply about extracting as much private profit as possible. 

Not only will EACOP displace communities, threaten the water resources and livelihoods of millions, and fuel climate change, but it doesn’t even stack up economically. The whole world is waking up to the fact that we need to stop burning fossil fuels and, as a result, the price of oil will continue to plummet.

The future of East Africa relies on building sustainable, diversified and inclusive economies – not by letting huge multinational corporations exploit African resources and keep the profit.

Photo credit (top banner): Lambert Coleman-Hans Lucas