By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Ugandan parliament passed a bill allowing the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to proceed.
Construction can now begin according to the agreement signed between French oil giant TotalEnergies and the Ugandan government.
The pipeline’s opponents say the legislation hands powers to this secretive “Host Government Agreement” that may threaten the environment and human rights.
A Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development spokesperson rejected claims that the newly passed EACOP Bill was rushed through parliament, saying that “in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of Parliament, the Committee was given 45 days to report back to Parliament. The Committee considered the Bill and engaged several relevant stakeholders and published public announcements calling for memoranda.”
But Diana Nabiruma, senior communications officer of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) in Kampala, said the public was only given five days to comment. “It was difficult for affected communities to input,” Nabiruma said, adding they live far from Kampala, Uganda’s capital.
Some legislators also said the bill’s passage was rushed, with important sections shared only at the last minute.
“We did not get enough time to scrutinize all of the components of this bill,” said Kaaya Christine Nakimwero, member of parliament for Kiboga district, through which part of the pipeline will pass. Details of how revenues from the extracted oil will be shared weren’t made available until the second reading of the bill.
“This deprived the Committee [on Environment and Natural Resources] of adequate information,” Nakimwero said.
