(Brussels, September 2, 2024) – Serious and widespread human rights abuses, environmental damage, and massive and unnecessary future carbon emissions should lead banks, financial institutions, and insurers to decline to provide further support for the Kingfisher oil project operated by the Chinese National Overseas Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in Uganda, Climate Rights International said in a new 156-page report today. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is expected to appeal for further funding from China when he attends the Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation on September 3-8 in Beijing.

Based on 98 interviews in the Kingfisher area and elsewhere in Uganda, “They Don’t Want People to Stay Here:” How CNOOC’s Kingfisher Oil Project in Uganda Is Causing Human Rights, Environmental, and Climate Harms, documents how the Kingfisher project has resulted in forced evictions; inadequate or non-existent compensation for land and other assets; coercion and intimidation in the land acquisition process; loss of livelihoods; reduced standards of living and impoverishment; labor rights violations; and sexual and gender-based violence. The report is the most extensive and detailed investigation yet into the Kingfisher project, which is located along Lake Albert and is one of two major oil development projects linked to the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).

Dozens of interviewees accused the Ugandan Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) of responsibility for forced evictions, destruction of fishing boats, violence, and creating a climate of fear aimed at protecting the Kingfisher project and intimidating local residents, activists, and environmental defenders opposed to the project. Climate Rights International also received reports from whistleblowers about oil and chemical dumping by the drilling subcontractor on the project that killed fish in Lake Albert. (Selected quotes from victims and witnesses of human rights violations related to the Kingfisher project can be found below.)

“It is appalling that a project that is touted as bringing prosperity to the people of Uganda is instead leaving them the victims of violence, intimidation, and poverty,” said Brad Adams, Executive Director at Climate Rights International. “The Kingfisher project, which is operated and co-owned by CNOOC and majority owned by TotalEnergies, is not only a dangerous carbon bomb but also a human rights disaster. The Ugandan government should rein in the military and stand with local residents instead of multinational oil companies.”

An analysis by the Climate Accountability Institute concluded that the entire oil and gas project would produce around 379 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over 25 years. Peak annual emissions would be more than double the current annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania combined. Like all new oil and gas projects, its development is incompatible with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C° warming target and a livable planet.

The UPDF, which has been deployed by the government to “protect” the oil installations, has forcibly evicted the residents of villages, often with little or no notice and no compensation. Interviewees described being ordered to leave, sometimes in just a few hours, fleeing with what little they could carry. Evictees who returned to their villages to try to collect belongings reported finding that their homes had been emptied and, in some cases, demolished. Other assets, such as goats and chickens, were missing.

While CNOOC committed to adhere to International Finance Corporation Standards on Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement, the reality has been far different. Villagers who were offered compensation for their land but did not accept, either because they felt the compensation was inadequate or because they did not want to leave their land, told Climate Rights International that they were threatened and intimidated into selling. Many of those living in the project area reported devastating impacts on their livelihoods, leaving them struggling to support their families and pay for education.

“CNOOC must provide fair and prompt compensation for communities and individuals who have lost land, assets and livelihoods, in line with its claim to abide by international standards and recognized best practices,” Adams said.

Since the arrival of CNOOC, fisherfolk and fish sellers report that UPDF fishery and marine units regularly seize and burn boats that don’t comply with new regulations banning smaller boats, arrest fisherfolk, demand bribes for their release, and seize fish. Many allege that this is part of a campaign to drive people out of the Kingfisher area, claiming that the restrictions on boat, net, and fish sizes are much more aggressively enforced near the Kingfisher area than on other parts of Lake Albert.

Women described sexual violence resulting from threats, intimidation, or coercion by soldiers in the Kingfisher project area. Climate Rights International received reports of sexual violence by managers and superiors within oil companies operating at Kingfisher, including one involving a CNOOC employee.

The development of the Kingfisher project has also led to the degradation of the natural environment, including land, water, and air pollution. Fisherfolk report seeing oil slicks and dead fish in the lake, and a drastic reduction in fish in the Kingfisher area. Two whistleblowers who worked for the CNOOC subcontractor in charge of drilling activities told Climate Rights International that they were instructed to dump oil and chemical waste directly into the lake, as well as on land, where it subsequently flows into the lake.

Community members who have sought jobs with CNOOC’s subcontractors report poor treatment including excessive hours, low wages, hazardous working conditions, failure to provide employment contracts and pay promised wages, and demands for bribes to obtain jobs, some of which are in violation of Ugandan law.

Within the Kingfisher area, the presence of such a large and active Ugandan military force has created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation in which many are hesitant to speak out. Those who are vocal can face harsh repercussions. In June 2024, Stephen Kwikiriza, an environmental observer with the Environmental Governance Institute, was abducted, interrogated, beaten, and disappeared for several days by the UPDF. Kwikiriza (his real name) had documented the environmental devastation and human rights violations suffered by his community from the Kingfisher project. According to FIDH, Kwikiriza was one of 11 campaigners against oil projects who were targeted by Ugandan police, military or government officials over a two-week period in early June.

In recent months, Ugandan authorities have engaged in a new wave of arrests and repression against Ugandans opposing Kingfisher and the wider EACOP project. On July 17, 2024, a group of activists instituted legal action against the Attorney General, as well as several police officers. The activists alleged that they have compiled a chronology of incidents over the last three years in which they accuse the authorities of torture, beating, detention without trial beyond 48 hours, and violation of their rights to freedoms of assembly, speech, expression, and movement.

Both the Kingfisher project and a second, larger oil development project, the Tilenga project, are jointly owned by TotalEnergies), with a 56.67 percent stake; CNOOC, with 28.33 percent; and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), at 15 percent. The Tilenga project is operated by TotalEnergies. In July, Climate Rights International sent letters to CNOOC, TotalEnergies, and the Uganda National Oil Company outlining the allegations made by residents of the Kingfisher project area, but received no replies.

“Banks and insurance companies should follow the lead of major financers and insurers from North America, Europe, and Japan that have already ruled out support for Kingfisher and other parts of the wider oil project,” said Adams. “If they want to invest in Uganda, they should instead focus on renewable energy and sustainable development. The Kingfisher project is bad for people, bad for the environment, and bad for climate change.”

For more information please contact:

In Brussels, Lotte Leicht at leicht@cri.org and +32 472 19 52 13

In New York, Linda Lakhdhir at lakhdhir@cri.org and +1 203 820 0372

In Kuala Lumpur, Brad Adams at adams@cri.org and +1 347 463 3531

Selected Quotes from Victims and Witnesses of Human Rights and Environmental Violations Related to the Kingfisher Project

Because of fears of retaliation, all names in the report are pseudonyms.

Forced evictions and burning of boats by the UPDF

• Solomon Atuhaire, who lived in the village of Kiina, described what happened to him: “By 6 a.m., the village was swarming with 30 to 40 military personnel. The soldiers declared: ‘We don’t want you here.’ People protested that they had nowhere to go, prompting the UPDF to start shooting, some shots fired into the air, others aimed to scare. The villagers began to flee. I immediately entered my house, told my wife we are leaving, closed the house and the shop, and directly left.”
• Vincent Yeno, from Kyehoro, explained his experience: “It was an abrupt issue, so I can’t tell how many boats were burned, but so many. People used to hide some of them, but now all of them are burned… the UPDF directly started to burn the boats.”

Coercion in Land Acquisition

• Joseph Mugisha from the village of Nzunsu B told Climate Rights International that CNOOC agents threatened him with losing everything if he persisted in his refusal to sign the “voluntary” compensation agreement for his land: “I was not happy and didn’t want to sign at the beginning. But [CNOOC] told me that if I didn’t sign, the land would be taken freely.”

Loss of Livelihoods and Impoverishment

• Stephen Katenda, who was evicted from Kyabasambu, explained the impact of his eviction: “I have a temporary house [with a] plastic sheet [for the roof]. Like the one they give for the refugees. Because renting was too expensive. A lot of people have this type of plastic sheet house.”
• Henry Lwanga, who was forcibly evicted from the village of Kyabasambu, told Climate Rights International, “I have seven children, five of my own and two from my brother who died. […] We have one meal per day, the same for everyone in the family. Sometimes even that meal is missing, and we take only tea.”
• Francis Okoth explained the impact of losing his boat, “When I had my boat, life was okay. I could have some goats, ducks, chickens. But now I have nothing. I can’t afford the expenses for my children, including school fees. Before, I had two or three meals, but now I struggle to have one meal per day. Sometimes I don’t have any meals, like yesterday. In one month, I can spend ten days without food.”

Sexual Violence

• Addressing sexual violence, Christine Nanyanzi said: “At the job, if you refuse to sleep with your boss, you can be chased away very fast.”
• Brenda Nakasumba, a 19-year-old woman, explained her experience: “If you want a job in a camp, you have two options: you can sleep with the chairman and CLO. Or you have to pay today to get the job.”

Oil and Chemical Pollution

• Philip Musoke, one of the two whistleblowers, explained: “They [the basins] are designed to collect all the water, drill water, chemicals, muddy water to not go directly to the lake. It’s where they were supposed to be collected by a waste company. All of them when they are full, they just put it in the lake. They asked me to pump that water. […] Or we could pump it to the hill, but it’s the same. It goes to the lake afterward. [They] pump only at night.”

Labor Violations

• Isaac Mubiru told Climate Rights International, “Some of my workmates who have not been paid reported to police. And police called the manager of [the company], he promised he’s going to pay us. But later he didn’t pay us. When they returned to the police, nothing more was done, as police said it was supposed to be CNOOC to handle that, but they don’t do anything either.”