Regional court dismisses EACOP Case, but the pipeline is still controversial

The Appellate Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed the East African Crude Oil Pipeline case on a technicality, refusing to examine the substantive evidence that four East African civil society organizations had prepared.

The court wouldn't hear how the project violates the EAC Treaty and the Protocol for Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin. It wouldn't consider that construction began without environmental approval from Uganda's National Environment Management Authority or an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report. It wouldn't look at the evidence of unfair displacement, destroyed forests and wetlands, or threats to the 40 million people who depend on Lake Victoria.

The judges ruled the case was filed outside the required period, effectively telling the communities seeking justice that technicalities matter more than their lives, their land, or their water.

Some of the EACOP Project-affected persons, along with their lawyers and members of civil society organizations from Uganda and Tanzania, are inside the EACJ court.

But a court's refusal to hear the truth doesn't change the truth.

EACOP still threatens millions of people. It still violates human rights obligations. Banks supporting it still risk complicity in documented harms. And the project's backers, including the governments of Uganda and Tanzania, still risk being left with a stranded asset as the world moves away from fossil fuels.

One thing did change on that fateful Wednesday: our determination and resolve.

As Recheal Tugume, an EACOP-impacted community member from Hoima, said: "We cannot afford the illusion that these institutions will save us. Our survival depends on continuing the struggle on every front and with every tool available to us: organizing in our communities, confronting financiers and insurers, challenging governments, and building a renewable energy future."

In the five years that this case has been in court, 43 banks and 30 insurers have ruled out EACOP support, and concerns about the project continue to grow. Communities continue organizing on the ground. Litigation is just one of the many tools at our disposal, and we shall double down on the other avenues available to us.

Our full press statement on the EACJ ruling is available here.