By Johnson Kanyesige
Police have arrested about 30 people for staging a protest against the construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline project near the Chinese embassy in Kampala.
According to Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Patrick Onyango, the suspects have been charged with unlawful assembly and are currently detained at Jinja Road Police Station.
The suspects who are students started a peaceful semonstration at around 10am matching towards the Chinese Embassy in Kololo, some holding banners, placards and hard copies of the petition chanting “Stop EACOP”.
Yuda Kaye, a student from Makerere Business School says EACOP, once constructed, threatens the region’s biodiversity as it passes through the region’s national parks.
In their petition, the students who had been joined by other members of the community urged the Chinese government to refrain from funding the construction of the EACOP which they say is dangerous to Uganda and the region.
“The construction of the 1,443km heated pipeline from Hoima to Tanga, Tanzania poses existential consequences to most of the region’s natural resources that’s Lake Victoria where a third of it passes through, forests and rivers,” reads part of the June 26 petition.
