Kampala, Uganda – Eleven activists affiliated with the StopEACOP campaign were arrested in Kampala on April 23, 2025, while peacefully delivering a petition to Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), demanding the bank to withdraw its financial support for the destructive East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
According to a statement from StopEACOP, the group entered KCB’s Kampala office requesting to hand over their letter to the General Manager. Instead, they were reportedly misled by a senior banking official believed to be the Head of Marketing and lured to the basement under the guise of organizing a meeting.
There, police and security personnel were already waiting. What followed was an orchestrated ambush resulting in the swift arrest of all eleven activists.
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline, a proposed 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline, will snake from oil fields in Hoima, Uganda, to Tanga Port in Tanzania. While advertised as a gateway to economic growth, critics argue the project spells ecological disaster, massive land displacements and increased climate vulnerability.
KCB is one of five banks named as financiers of EACOP. In the face of public pressure, 43 banks and 30 major insurers have already withdrawn from the project, citing “environmental, social and governance risks.”
“As a Kenyan, I am ashamed that KCB, a homegrown institution has chosen to fund a project that threatens the livelihoods of over 40 million people across East Africa,” said Ashley Kitsiaya, Africa Programme Manager at Laudato Si’ Movement.
The StopEACOP coalition is calling for immediate and unconditional release of the 11 detained protesters, a public commitment from KCB to withdraw financing from EACOP, and an end to the repression of environmental and community activists in Uganda and beyond.
Brian Atuheire, Executive Director of the African Institute for Food and Environment (AIFE), condemned the arrests, saying:
“This is not just about pipeline. It’s about democracy, justice and accountability. KCB has not only chosen to fund a project causing environmental destruction and human rights abuse, it has now joined the ranks of those enabling political repression to protect profit.”
This isn’t an isolated case. Earlier this month, nine university students were arrested for protesting against another EACOP financier, Stanbic Bank.
The recurring crackdowns paint a grim picture of Uganda’s commitment to free expression and peaceful assembly.
Uganda’s civil society, already under strain is sounding the alarm, peaceful climate advocacy is being criminalized.
Despite the arrests, the StopEACOP campaign says their resolve remains unshaken.
“The repression will not stop our resistance,” said Atuheire. “We stand in unwavering solidarity with the arrested and with every community bearing the brunt of this pipeline. The banks funding EACOP must know their investments will be met with growing resistance and global scrutiny.”
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