At least ten youth climate activists were arrested in downtown Kampala today during a peaceful protest led by the group Students Against EACOP.
The demonstrators were demanding that Stanbic Bank Uganda withdraw from financing the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a project increasingly under fire from environmentalists, civil society, and human rights groups.
The non-violent march, staged outside Stanbic Bank’s headquarters, was quickly dispersed by security forces, with uniformed and plain-clothed officers arresting several demonstrators.
Protesters were seen carrying placards with messages such as “Stop EACOP” and “Stanbic, Don’t Fund Our Destruction”, before being forcibly detained and bundled into police trucks.
The arrests have since sparked outrage among climate activists and opposition leaders, who say the incident reflects a broader pattern of shrinking civic space and repression of environmental dissent in Uganda.
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a massive infrastructure project jointly undertaken by the governments of Uganda and Tanzania, in partnership with global oil giants TotalEnergies and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
The pipeline, once completed, will stretch 1,443 kilometers from Uganda’s oil-rich Hoima region to the Tanzanian port of Tanga, transporting crude oil for export.
While the Ugandan government touts EACOP as a transformational venture that will create jobs and boost the economy, critics argue that the environmental and social costs are too high. Some of the major concerns raised include the displacement of over 100,000 people along the pipeline’s path, destruction of sensitive ecosystems such as those in Murchison Falls National Park and around Lake Victoria, increased greenhouse gas emissions, contradicting Uganda’s climate commitments and allegations of land grabbing and human rights violations, particularly during land acquisition
Stanbic Bank, a subsidiary of Standard Bank Group (South Africa) and Uganda’s largest financial institution, is accused of providing partial debt financing and financial services to the EACOP project. Despite global calls for financial divestment, Stanbic has not publicly distanced itself from the pipeline.
In April 2023, a coalition of over 20 environmental organizations including 350.org, Fridays for Future Uganda, and AFIEGO petitioned banks in East Africa to cease involvement in EACOP. While several European banks such as HSBC, Barclays, and Credit Agricole have already pulled out, African financial institutions, including Stanbic, remain committed.
Today’s arrests, critics argue, show the growing tension between financial power, state security, and youth-led environmental movements in Uganda.
Ugandan authorities have long dismissed opposition to EACOP as foreign-funded sabotage, with President Yoweri Museveni describing such campaigns as a form of climate imperialism. He maintains that Uganda has the sovereign right to exploit its natural resources for economic development.
However, this state-centric narrative is being challenged by an increasingly organized domestic movement of students, lawyers, faith leaders, and grassroots organizations concerned about both environmental damage and the suppression of dissent.
Prominent Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate and AFIEGO director Dickens Kamugisha have repeatedly warned that Uganda’s environmental and land laws are being eroded by elite interests. Today’s arrests may be seen as evidence of that erosion.
Legal analysts argue that the protestors were within their constitutional rights to assemble peacefully, and that their detention could violate protections enshrined in Articles 29 and 38 of Uganda’s Constitution, which guarantee freedoms of assembly and political participation.
As of this report, Kampala Metropolitan Police had not issued a formal statement or presented charges.
Civil society watchdogs such as Chapter Four Uganda, DefendDefenders, and the Uganda Human Rights Commission have also criticized the arrests, demanding that peaceful environmental activism not be criminalized.
Uganda is fast becoming a battleground between economic development ambitions and environmental justice demands. While EACOP offers the promise of billions in revenue, it risks undermining international climate agreements, displacing vulnerable populations, and stifling a generation of young activists who see the climate crisis as their defining issue.
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