A massive oil project in Uganda, jointly owned by French energy giant TotalEnergies and China’s CNOOC, is facing severe criticism from climate activists for alleged human rights abuses, forced evictions, and environmental damage. This $10 billion investment involves oil drilling in the Lake Albert area of northwestern Uganda and the construction of a 1,443-kilometer heated pipeline to transport the crude oil to Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Tanga.
Climate Rights International (CRI), a non-profit organization, has released a report detailing a “Catalogue of Abuses” at the Kingfisher project. The report, based on interviews with dozens of local residents, paints a disturbing picture of the project’s impact on the community.
CRI Executive Director Brad Adams stated, “It is appalling that a project touted as bringing prosperity to the people of Uganda is instead leaving them the victims of violence, intimidation, and poverty.” He further criticized the project, labeling it a “human rights disaster” in addition to being a “dangerous carbon bomb.”
The report details harrowing accounts from residents of villages in the Kingfisher area, who describe being forcefully evicted from their homes, often with little to no notice, by the Ugandan army (UPDF). Residents recounted being ordered to leave their homes with only what they could carry, leaving behind their belongings. Some homes were emptied and even demolished. The report alleges that residents who questioned or opposed the land acquisition by CNOOC faced threats, coercion, and intimidation.
Families also spoke of pressure and intimidation tactics used by officials from TotalEnergies’ Ugandan subsidiary and its subcontractors to compel them to accept low levels of compensation for their land, which was insufficient for purchasing replacement land. Since CNOOC and the military arrived in the region, fishing boats, the primary economic activity, have been routinely seized or burned by the army if they do not comply with new regulations banning smaller vessels.
Furthermore, CRI states that “numerous women” have reported sexual violence as a result of threats, intimidation, or coercion by soldiers in the project area. Many women alleged that soldiers threatened them with arrest or confiscation of their fish merchandise unless they agreed to engage in sexual activity. The non-profit also received reports of sexual violence perpetrated by “managers and superiors” within oil companies operating at Kingfisher, including an incident involving a CNOOC employee.
Regarding environmental damage, two former employees of China Oilfields Services Limited, a drilling service contractor, told CRI that their Chinese supervisor instructed them to dispose of contaminated water basins from the drilling rig directly into Lake Albert or onto vacant land. These actions raise serious concerns about the potential for environmental contamination and the impact on the surrounding ecosystem.
TotalEnergies has previously maintained that those displaced by the oil project have been fairly compensated and that measures have been implemented to protect the environment. However, the CRI report challenges these claims, presenting a stark contrast to the company’s narrative. Uganda’s first oil is expected to begin flowing in 2025, and the project has been hailed as an economic boon for the country by President Yoweri Museveni, particularly for a nation grappling with poverty. However, the report’s findings raise serious ethical and environmental concerns about the true cost of this purported economic advancement.
