Ten remanded to Luzira over anti-EACOP protest

What the report says

A Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kampala remanded 10 young people to Luzira Prison on Tuesday after their arrest during a protest against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, according to The Observer. The accused, who include painters, students, a mechanic, a tailor, a shopkeeper and a businesswoman, appeared before grade one magistrate Rophine Acayo and denied a charge of causing a nuisance on a public road under Uganda’s Roads Act.

The publication said prosecutors allege the group assembled on King George Way in Kampala Central on August 31, 2026, wearing orange T-shirts and carrying placards opposing oil development. The reported messages on the signs called for investment in other parts of the economy and warned about the long-term effects of oil extraction. Court was told the suspects had no sureties available, leading to their remand until September 18, 2026, when they are expected back for mention and bail applications.

The case comes amid a wider series of arrests and prosecutions linked to protests by Rooted in Resistance, a pressure group critical of EACOP. The Observer said the campaigners object to the project’s environmental impact, compensation issues and the transparency of agreements behind the pipeline.

Background noted by the paper says EACOP was launched in 2021 to move crude oil from Uganda’s Albertine region to Tanzania’s port of Tanga, and has remained a flashpoint between government support for the project and environmental opposition.