By Witness Radio team.
A bail application for the 15 EACOP activists from Kyambogo and Makerere University Business School (MUBS) Universities currently on remand on charges of common nuisance will take off today.
On November 16, 2024, attempts to apply for bail for the 15 students flopped due to the absence of two activist students in court.
The prosecution informed the court that Wafula Simon and Kalyango Shafik were sick and suffering from red eyes. They were placed in an isolation room in the prison hospital, thus causing a setback to earlier bail application attempts.
The activists on remand, all young students, include Simon Peter Wafula, Gary Wettaka, Martin Sserwambala, Erick Ssekandi, Arafat Mawanda, Akram Katende, Dedo Sean Kevin, Noah Katiti, Oscar Nuwagaba, Oundo Hamphrance, Bernard Mutenyo, Nicholas Pele, Shadiah Nabukenya, Shafiq Kalyango, and Makose Mark.
They were arrested in early November 2024 for protesting against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project in Kampala, Uganda’s capital. The activists, undeterred by the risks, were marching to Uganda’s Parliament to meet the Speaker of Parliament and raise concerns about the EACOP project, including the continued gross human rights violations/abuses, the significant threat it poses to the environment, and the criminalization of the mega project’s critics.
The EACOP project will transport crude oil from Uganda’s Albertine region to Tanzania’s Tanga seaport. The project has been criticized for delayed compensation for affected persons and secretive agreements.
On November 11, the accused were charged with common nuisance. Section 160 (1) of the Penal Code Act states that anyone charged with common nuisance is liable to one-year imprisonment on conviction.
The prosecution alleges that on November 11, 2024, the accused gathered at Parliamentary Avenue, peacefully expressing their dissent and causing no harm, yet they were charged with common nuisance. They were accused of causing disruption and inconvenience by holding an unauthorized demonstration on the road while displaying placards and banners opposing the oil pipeline.
The bail application for the 15 activists will be presented before Her Worship Sanula Nambozo the Grade One Magistrate of Buganda Road Court.
