You’ve probably heard about the big oil project called EACOP- East African Crude Oil Pipeline. It’s a massive pipe that will carry oil from Uganda all the way through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean, where it can be shipped abroad.
It sounds like a big deal, right? People say it will bring jobs, development, and money to Uganda and Tanzania.
But here’s the question many people are now asking:
If the oil is from Uganda, and the land it crosses belongs to Ugandans and Tanzanians, why are we getting the smallest share?
Uganda: The Host, Not the Owner
Yes, the oil is in Uganda. But most of the profits will not go to Ugandans. The biggest winners are foreign companies, especially TotalEnergies from France and CNOOC from China. They own most of the oil project, not us.
The Ugandan government has helped set up the project, cleared land, and made laws to support it. But when it comes to control and profits, Ugandans are just watching from the sidelines.
A detailed article by news-decorder.com continues to wonder ‘Will an oil pipeline that would stretch from Tanzania to Uganda bring wealth to East Africa or is it the same old story of exploitation?
In the sticky heat of an April afternoon in Kampala, Uganda nine university students stood outside the headquarters of Stanbic Bank, their voices raised in protest. It is a sound that has echoed for more than half a decade.
Their signs called for an end to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a $5 billion project: 1,443 kilometers of 24-inch wide, heated and buried steel ambition, snaking from Uganda’s oil-rich Lake Albert basin to the Tanzanian port of Tanga on the Indian Ocean. Before the hour was out, they were in police custody.
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