The police have arrested youth activists who were marching to KCB Bank (Uganda) to protest thre bank’s decision to fund the East African Crude Oil Project (EACOP).
Holding placards with words such as: “KCB should stop funding EACOP”, the youth were bundled onto police pickups and whisked to an unknown place.
The arrest comes weeks after another group of activists was arrested as they tried to deliver a petition to the bank. The activists are currently on remand at Luzira Prison.
In March, KCB alongside other financial institutions committed to fund the $5 billion pipeline.
Other financiers are: Standard Bank, Stanbic Bank Uganda, and Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.
Several activists and civil society actors have opposed EACOP due to concerns about its potential environmental and social impacts, as well as its role in a fossil fuel project.
Among other concerns, the pipeline is expected to: traverse sensitive ecosystems, including national parks and wetlands, potentially harming wildlife and causing pollution; impact land owned and used by local communities, potentially displacing thousands of people and disrupting their livelihoods and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating the climate crisis.
