According to the agreed plan, the pipeline route will begin from Hoima through Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Gomba, Sembabule, Lwengo, Kyotera, and Rakai and cross the Tanzania border between Masaka and Bukoba. It will then traverse Tanzania through Kahama, Singida, and Kondoa, into Tanga.
People
affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Kikuube district have
tasked members of the opposition in Parliament to compel the government and oil
companies to immediately compensate them for their land which was taken to facilitate the smooth
running of the project.
The
1,443km crude oil export pipeline will transport Uganda’s crude oil from Hoima
in Uganda to the Chongoleani peninsula near Tanga port in Tanzania. It
is envisaged to be the longest electrically heated pipeline in the world and
will cross through 10 districts in Uganda, a distance of 296 kilometres and 25
districts in Tanzania, covering eight regions.
According
to the agreed plan, the pipeline route will begin from Hoima through Kikuube,
Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Mubende, Gomba, Sembabule, Lwengo, Kyotera, and Rakai and
cross the Tanzania border between Masaka and Bukoba. It will then traverse Tanzania
through Kahama, Singida, and Kondoa, into Tanga.
The land acquisition program for the said project was rolled out in August 2018 and the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU) promised to start compensation in
December 2020 or early January 2021. However,
until today, the project-affected persons have not received compensation, even though they were stopped from using their land.
Those in Kikuube are mow regretting why they
offered their land to the government for the project.
Kikuube
district alone has 390 EACOP project-affected Persons. Rev.Fred
Musimenta, one of the EACOP PAPs in Kikuube says most of them have lost hope
in the government and the oil companies for not respecting the agreement they
signed with them.
//Cue
in; “Okusasurwa okwa teka…
Cue
out…kwombeka mu ebyombeko.”//
80-year-old Norah
Kakenge, another affected resident wonders why the compensation has been delayed and fears that she might die before receiving her package.
//Cue
in; “Nyine abana be…
Cue
out…kiki kyoku nkolera.”//
Charles
Twesigye, another PAP says that the
only option left for them is to task the opposition in Parliament to compel the government to compensate him since all other avenues have failed. They were meeting opposition Members of parliament
who are on a working visit in the Bunyoro sub-region.
//Cue
in; “Kuruga bashaija bana…
Cue
out:…babi bale kurungi.”//
Kikuube LCV Vice Chairperson Vincent
Alpha Opio says the delayed compensation has
compelled many people to lose trust in the government and the oil companies.
//Cue
in; “We have been…
Cue
out…around ten per cent.”//
Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition in parliament
faulted the government for not availing the project-affected persons with
timely information about the progress of the project and the compensation.
//Cue
in; “The issues you…
Cue
out…their due value.”//
Amlan
Tumusiime, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner-RDC admits that there are
still many people with complaints about the compensation processes, but adds that they are engaging the oil companies to expedite the compensation.
