FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KIGALI, KAMPALA, NAIROBI & ZANZIBAR
The Appellate Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) will hear an appeal filed by four East African civil society organisations (CSOs) on February 24, 2025, seeking to reverse a judgment made by the First Instance Division of the EACJ.
The case was brought following continued environmental and human rights abuses or risks caused by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project and its failure to uphold key regional and international laws and agreements.
The appeal hearing will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.
Background to the case
In November 2020, the four CSOs, including the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) from Uganda, the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) from Uganda, Natural Justice (NJ) from Kenya, and the Centre for Strategic Litigation (CSL) from Tanzania, filed a case seeking to stop the EACOP project’s non-compliance with key regional and international laws and agreements.
The case was filed on behalf of the millions of East Africans whose human and environmental rights have either been abused or are at stake due to the EACOP project, which, alongside the Tilenga oil project, has led to the forced displacement of over 120,000 people and is affecting environmental resources that East Africans rely on for their livelihoods, health and wellbeing.
The First Instance Division of the EACJ dismissed the case in November 2023. The judges averred that the case was filed out of time, resulting in the dismissal.
The appeal
A month later, in December 2023, the CSOs filed their appeal, arguing that the judges at the First Instance Division erred in their ruling.
The appeal was first heard at the EACJ in Arusha, Tanzania, in November 2024. During that hearing, the Appellate Division of the EACJ rejected the Tanzanian government’s request to dismiss the appeal. Instead, the court ordered the four CSOs to file a supplementary record of proceedings from the First Instance Division by November 29, 2024, to enable the judges to hear the case.
The supplementary record was accordingly filed and a hearing date was set for February 24, 2025.
Arguments
The arguments in the appeal include:
- That the case was filed in time and in compliance with relevant East African Community (EAC) laws.
- That the First Instance Division misinterpreted EAC laws and misapplied procedural law to find that the case was filed out of time.
- Further, that the First Instance Division erred in imposing costs on the public interest litigants who sought remedies on behalf of affected persons.
The applicants are therefore seeking the following remedies from the Appellate Division of the EACJ:
- Setting aside the ruling of the First Instance Division that dismissed the case;
- Deferral of the above case back to the First Instance Division for hearing on its merits and
- Setting aside the decision of the First Instance Division in which costs were awarded to the governments of Uganda and Tanzania and the Secretary General of the EAC.
Mr. Dickens Kamugisha, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFIEGO, says, “We are looking forward to our case being heard. The Appellate Division has the opportunity to correct the mistakes of the First Instance Division by ordering that our case is heard on its merits. We remain hopeful that the court will dispense justice.”
Ms. Elizabeth Kariuki, the East Africa Hub Director at Natural Justice, adds, “We are resolute in our pursuit of justice. As the appeal hearing approaches, we remain hopeful that the Appellate Division will consider the broader issues at stake and provide an opportunity to address the serious environmental and human rights concerns surrounding the EACOP. The severity of the issues surrounding the pipeline demands an immediate and comprehensive examination and we anticipate nothing less than a commitment to justice for the affected communities.”
Mr. Jelousy Mugisha, an affected person from Uganda, adds, “Oil-affected communities in Uganda are highly interested in the case, which is going to be heard a few weeks after an elephant killed a grandmother, and critically injured her grandson. Communities assert that elephant-human conflicts are being contributed to by oil drilling in Murchison Falls National Park. They are hopeful that courts will restore order by stopping harmful oil activities in protected areas.”
Ms. Rachael Tugume, an EACOP-affected person from Uganda says, “Despite the EACOP project developers saying that they have compensated over 90% of the people from whom they compulsorily acquired land, complaints over under-compensation persist. We are also worried about the environmental and climate change risks of the project. We are farmers, and we are scared, wondering how we will survive when the project destroys the environment. We hope that the court will protect the poor by stopping the project.”
Mr. Deus Valentine Rweyemamu, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Strategic Litigation notes that the case provides “a real opportunity for the East African Court of Justice to help set the standards for foreign investors and the East African Community in ensuring that the community’s own standards on the environment as well as international commitment including the Paris Agreement are given life through this case”.
For more information about the case, you may read this factsheet.
For further information, please contact:
Natural Justice: salome@naturaljustice.org
Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO): dnabiruma@afiego.org
Centre for Strategic Litigation (CSL): info@strategiclawcentre.org
Centre for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT): kabanda@cefroht.org
