In May 2017, an intergovernmental agreement was signed between Uganda and Tanzania for development of the 1445 km heated East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). The $ 3.55 billion project is planned to transport crude oil that will be produced in Uganda’s Albertine Graben to Tanga port in Tanzania, to enable access to the market through the Indian Ocean. Cementing this agreement, the governments of Tanzania and Uganda held a groundbreaking ceremony for the pipeline construction on 5 August 2017.
In light of these developments in the petroleum sector across the two countries, civil society organisations are convening a multi-stakeholder dialogue meeting on the EACOP to be held on 23 August 2017 at Liaco Lake Victoria Hotel Entebbe, Uganda.
The main purpose of this event is to bring together communities, local civil society organizations, government representatives, the private sector, media and academia from Uganda and Tanzania to learn, share information and strategies to effectively promote communities’ rights in the proposed East Africa Crude Oil pipeline in a coordinated manner. It is expected that this meeting will lay the groundwork for active citizen and community participation throughout the implementation of the pipeline project.
The event will officially be opened by the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Hon. Betty Amongi and Rtd. Justice James Ogoola will give a keynote address. International oil companies are also expected to attend and give updates on the roll – out of plans in the pipeline. Other participants include activists from different countries including Kenya, Chad and Nigeria to share their experiences on oil and gas pipelines.
The meeting is being hosted by Oxfam in Uganda in partnership with organisations including Global Rights Alert, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (CODE), WWF-Uganda, Civic Response on Environment and Development (CRED), HakiRasilimali among others.
Oxfam in Uganda Country Director Peter Kamalingin said, “This is the first of many multi-stakeholder engagement meetings around the pipeline. We anticipate discussing ways to guard against unclear contract negotiations, unfair issues particularly relating to land acquisition, environmental rights, and communities’ social and cultural rights.”
Contact information
For media inquiries please contact: Oxfam communications coordinators Emilly Niringiye at Emilly.Niringiye@oxfam.org /0779884656 and/or Misozi Tembo at Misozi.Tembo@oxfam.org / 0700543153