ARUSHA, Tanzania
A regional court has dismissed a petition seeking to stop the construction of a controversial $4bn (£3.1bn) crude oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania.
The East African Court of
Justice (EACJ) on Wednesday ruled that the case was filed too late and was
therefore time-barred and beyond its jurisdiction.
The 1,443km (896-mile) East
Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), which is being constructed by the Ugandan
and Tanzanian governments along with TotalEnergies and China National Offshore
Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has faced pushback from local communities and rights
and environmental groups.
The groups say the project is
displacing communities from their land, desecrating graves along the pipeline
route and causing environmental harm.
"This judgement marks a
continuation of how the global north and various government institutions in
Africa are blind to the destruction of the environment and the impact oil and
gas has on the climate," civil society group Natural Justice said in a
statement.
Natural Justice and the other
three civil society organisations that filed the case in 2020 said they would
appeal against the decision.
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