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11 #StopEACOP activists spend two months in jail for attempting to deliver a letter to KCB Uganda.
Eleven activists arrested on April 23rd while attempting to deliver a letter to KCB Uganda, expressing their opposition to the bank’s involvement in the controversial East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) have remained in jail for close to two months since their arrest.
The 1,443-kilometer pipeline, if completed, would transport crude oil from Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s coast, passing through sensitive ecosystems, and has already displaced thousands of community members.
Deceptively arrested
The peaceful activists were attempting to deliver a letter expressing their disappointment and opposition to KCB Uganda’s decision to fund EACOP when they were deceptively led into the basement of the bank’s offices—reportedly by the head of marketing—under the pretense of meeting with the general manager. Instead, they were met by police and security personnel and arrested on the spot.
“It is an outrageous injustice that peaceful people, simply trying to deliver a letter to a bank, are spending months in a maximum security prison. These activists were exercising their democratic right to be heard and to assert themselves as legitimate stakeholders in the future of their country and environment.
“Instead, they were deceived, arrested, and thrown behind bars in appalling conditions—all with the complicity of KCB.” Said Zaki Mamdoo, coordinator of the StopEACOP campaign.
#TheKCB11 in court in record three times
The activists—now known as #TheKCB11—have appeared before the court a record three times, including yesterday’s hearing, and have been denied the opportunity for bail at each occurrence.
On each occasion that the 11 activists have appeared in court, the prosecution has not been able to provide any witnesses. Yesterday, the lawyers of the 11 activists requested the court to dismiss the matter for lack of witnesses, and while the state attorney had no objection, the magistrate, Justice Frank Namanya, refused the request, stating that the alleged offense of criminal trespass was a serious offense, which is inaccurate as it is considered minor under Ugandan law.
“From the start, this case has been handled in a way that raises serious legal and ethical concerns. Bail was denied to the detained on a technicality at the first hearing, and at the second hearing, proceedings were stalled because both the magistrate and state prosecutor were absent due to a prosecutors’ symposium.
“Yesterday, the case file was mysteriously taken from court by an unknown lawyer, and despite our request for time to retrieve it and proceed with a bail application, the magistrate refused and adjourned the case.
“The continued failure to produce prosecution witnesses only deepens concerns around the weaponisation of the judicial system to keep peaceful activists behind bars, completely undermining the pursuit of justice.” Said Advocate Tumusiime Kato, a Legal representative of the #KCB11.
Dwindling public trust in judiciary and dire consequences
It has not escaped our notice that all the cases against the StopEACOP activists opposing this project have unnecessarily dragged on for months, sometimes years, only to be dismissed for lack of prosecution witnesses.
In fact, early in April, Ugandan MPs from the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee warned the Judiciary about the dwindling public trust and dire consequences, referencing Kenya’s anti finance bill protest when the judiciary officers appeared before the committee to defend their ministerial policy statement
“As communities directly affected by the EACOP project, we stand in full solidarity with the KCB11. Those arrested were not acting for themselves alone; they were courageously amplifying the very real fears and injustices communities face on the ground. We thank them for championing our concerns, for speaking truth to power, and for taking up this struggle for justice. Their arrest is not only unjust, it is an attack on all of us who dare to demand a future where our voices are heard and our rights respected.” Said Balach Bakundane, Team Leader at the EACOP Host Communities organisation.
The activists’ detention also highlights growing concerns about the shrinking space for civil society and environmental advocacy in Uganda, where critics of the EACOP project have faced increasing restrictions and legal challenges.
The StopEACOP coalition takes issue with the magistrate’s refusal to grant bail and incorrect legal interpretation of criminal trespass as a serious offence that contradicts established Ugandan legal precedent. We therefore call on the Uganda Law Society to take a keen interest in its officers
