Police have arrested several university students in the Kampala city center for protesting against the ongoing implementation of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

A group of protesters were intercepted by the police as they attempted to make their way to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to deliver a petition over the delayed compensation of the Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

According to some activists, the ongoing project needs to be stopped because the Ugandan government has not fully compensated and settled the PAPs in the district of Hoima.

One of the activists who prefer anonymity argued that during his interaction with the Chinese Embassy regarding EACOP, there was a critical need for the government to take action and halt the project, but it chose to ignore it.

“They did not listen to the PAPs, and that is why we appealed, and we shall keep going on and strategically mitigate, but as we do that we will also put our feet on the ground,’’ the activist noted.

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The activist further noted that demonstrations held at the Chinese Embassy prior to the march showed commitment to stop the whole planning and implementation of the project.

“We want to go to the Ministry of Energy and leave no stone unturned until the people get their justice,’’ the activist added.

The Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, ASP Luke Owoyesigyire, during the weekly media briefing on August 26, 2024, said that the group of university students is among those that were arrested earlier this month in connection with the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

According to Owoyesigyire, the police are aware of these alleged climate change protests, and the suspects are to be arraigned before the court for unlawful assembly.

“We conducted an operation where we arrested and detained 18 people who had gathered unlawfully with intent to march to Parliament along Nasser Road,’’ he said.

He further revealed that it was the same group that has been moving at the Chinese Embassy, the offices of the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), and that they are very resilient to the cause.

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“We want to assure them that we shall keep on arresting them as long as they are doing something unlawful,” Owoyesigyire noted.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is to run from Kabaale, Hoima, to the Chongoleani Penninsula near Tanga Port in Tanzania.