MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
Oil activities in Murchison Falls National Park threaten Wildlife Conservation – AFIEGO study reveals.
Published
9 months agoon

By Witness Radio team.
A study conducted by the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) and its partners has revealed that oil development activities are threatening the existence of Wildlife conservation at Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP).
Uganda has 10 National Parks including Queen Elizabeth, Lake Mburo, Murchison Falls, Kidepo Valley, Kibale, Mount Elgon, Rwenzori Mountains, Semuliki, Mgahinga Gorilla, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks and are managed by Uganda Wildlife Authority, (UWA).
Murchison Falls National Park, one of the oldest and most visited national parks in Uganda, is highly attractive to tourists due to its rich biodiversity. According to the Ministry of Wildlife, Tourism, and Antiquities’ 2024 report, Murchison Falls National Park received the highest number of tourists among all the national parks in Uganda between 2019 and 2023.
Data from Ministry of Tourism shows that in 2023, the Murchison park received 141,335 visitors which is equivalent to 36.4% of the 387,914 tourists that visited Uganda’s ten national parks.
The 24-page document titled Murchison Falls National Park is dying: How oil activities, climate change, and poaching are negatively reshaping the Park’ reveals that the Tilenga oil project infrastructural development presents immense risks to Murchison Falls National Park.
The Tilenga Oil project, part of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is operated by Total Energies E&P (U) B.V. According to the EACOP website, EACOP is being constructed in parallel with two upstream development projects known as Tilenga and Kingfisher respectively.
Between February and June 2024, AFIEGO and partners conducted research to assess the progress of the development of the Tilenga oil project infrastructure and to examine the impact of this infrastructure on biodiversity.
In Murchison Falls National Park, oil sector infrastructure such as drilling rigs, well pads, flowlines, pipelines, roads, and others are being developed to enable commercial oil production by TotalEnergies under the Tilenga oil project.
Findings reveal that there has been progress in developing oil sector infrastructure in park assessed through satellite images. According to the study analysis of May 2024, satellite imagery shows rapid development of the tens of well pads and clearing for roads and the pipeline network inside the park.
The progress in oil development has had chilling effects on humans and biodiversity. Findings from the study expressed growing concern and fear towards light pollution, increased poaching risks, and increased motorization. Elephants are invading different areas of residence because of vibrations from the oil rig.
Among the impacts seen is the escape of wild animals from the park and the killing of people neighboring it. The study reveals that between 2023 and April 2024 in Buliisa district, five people have been killed by elephants. Oil host communities that live around the Park reported that elephants are moving from the Park and are invading communities destroying croplands and killing people.
According to experts in the study, the elephants could feel the vibrations from the drilling rig in their feet which causes them to move away from the Park and into communities.
The study also noted that the Tilenga oil project drilling rig is responsible for increasing light pollution in the Park and the surrounding communities. The light from the rig can be seen at long distances up to 13.9km away. Concerns were raised by this research’s respondents, who observed that the feeding and other patterns of nocturnal and light-sensitive wildlife could be negatively impacted by the rig’s light pollution. Such wildlife includes leopards, lions, birds, and others. These could migrate from the Park, or suffer worse impacts such as death.
Away from the above, the study observed that the paved roads that have been constructed in Park to support the Tilenga oil project activities have opened it up to more motorised traffic exposing wildlife to poaching, accidents as well as noise and air pollution.
Furthermore, Well-pads are located an estimated 950 and 750 metres respectively from the Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Ramsar Site in Park which is an Important Birding Area and important spawning ground for the Lake Albert fisheries.
“The development of good pads near the Ramsar site has been implicated in risking the conservation of aquatic biodiversity such as water birds especially the vulnerable Shoebill, fishes, and mammals like the hippopotamus” the study mentioned.
Additionally, the development of well pads and other oil sector infrastructure were also implicated in increasing the human population in Park. “The presence of human beings has been shown to lead to avoidance by wildlife, especially larger mammalian predators, of areas where human beings are. Wildlife such as the Uganda Kob was said to be slowly acclimatizing to the human presence and can be found near oil sector workers”. The study revealed.
Also, it pins oil activities in the Northern sector of the Park where the rig that will drill the Jobiri wells is located, the Northern side is characterized by savanna vegetation hosting more wildlife than the Southern sector, endangering the conservation of the savanna grasslands. According to experts in the study, predators such as lions, hyenas, leopards, and others also prefer to live in the Northern sector of the Park where they can easily access prey among others.
This study was released barely a few weeks after a group of 828 civil society organizations (CSOs) led by Afiego, oil host communities, fisherfolk, small-scale farmers as well as tour and travel operators, and other individuals from Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) petitioned President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to stop the ongoing TotalEnergies’ oil drilling in Murchison Falls National Park and its planned deployment of a second oil rig in the Park.
The petition followed reports that Total Energies E&P (U) B.V. was sweet-talking the President to allow them to deploy the second rig in the Park following the Petroleum Authority of Uganda’s (PAU) refusal, to allow them to deploy another oil rig in the Park over biodiversity conservation concerns.
As Total looks to add more oil rigs escalating the impacts, the recent study reveals that its current infrastructural projects—including oil rigs, well pads, pipelines, and roads—continue to cause negative impacts on biodiversity conservation in the Park.
In a bid to strengthen biodiversity conservation, the research study recommends that TotalEnergies and the Ugandan government stop all oil exploitation activities in the Park and calls for the intervention of the United Nations (UN), Ramsar secretariat, and UNESCO World Heritage Committee to engage the Ugandan government to stop the oil activities in Park.
Furthermore, the Ugandan government and development partners called upon to support the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in addressing risks such as climate change, poaching, and human-wildlife conflicts that are endangering the conservation of vital wildlife that supports the multi-billion tourism and other industries in Uganda.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority refused to comment on the study findings. The spokesperson of the Authority Mr. Bashir Hangi in an interview with Witness Radio said he was unable to comment on its contents.
“We haven’t read the detailed report and cannot comment on its contents. Allow us to read the report,” he wrote in a WhatsApp text message to Witness Radio.
Dr. Patricia Litho Kevin, the Assistant Commissioner for Communication in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, acknowledged that there are potential risks associated with oil exploration and production, a reason why they established robust regulations, monitoring mechanisms, and contingency plans to prevent and respond to any environmental incidents.
She adds that the Government of Uganda is committed to ensuring that the oil projects are executed in an environmentally sustainable and responsible manner because it also understands the importance of preserving the natural heritage and biodiversity.
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
Forced Land Evictions in Uganda: who’ll bring reparation for victims.
Published
3 days agoon
April 23, 2025
By Witness Radio team.
Vivian Nandyose, a bright student, should have been in Senior Five this year. However, her dreams were shattered when her parents, the pillars of her education, were unjustly imprisoned over land-related criminal charges. With both parents in prison for eleven months, on what the family claims were false accusations, Vivian was forced to put her education on hold and take care of her five younger siblings.
In Uganda, Senior Four is the fourth and final year of lower secondary school, also known as the O-Level period. It’s the equivalent of grade 10 in the United States. Students in Senior Four take their O-Level exams, known as the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) at the end of the year.
“This is the life that we are experiencing because some greedy rich man caused my parents to be imprisoned. I didn’t go for senior four because I didn’t have school fees, and no one could care for the young ones while I was away,” Vivian painfully revealed in an interview with Witness Radio Uganda in December 2024.
The horrific arrest of her parents from their home in Kabubbu-Kabonge village, Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District, on January 10, 2024, is something that 17-year-old Vivian will never forget. At 1:00 a.m., police officers from the Luwero Police Station broke into their home. They took her parents, Mr. Ssebaggala Richard, his wife, Namande Prossy Kanabi, and their relative, Anania Ngabirano, into custody. The incident happened without prior notice of the reasons surrounding their arrest.
Vivian stated, “We have no peace; we can’t do anything now. Because the people who used to help us are no longer with us, I cannot afford to care for my younger siblings.”
The trio faces accusations of aggravated robbery related to a one-acre land dispute with businessman Benon Ntambi. The family claims that Ntambi illegally seized their land, destroyed all their crops, and orchestrated their violent arrests. However, Ntambi’s representatives argue that the land was legally acquired, and the family’s allegations are unfounded.
Nandyose’s loss of education is not an isolated case but a growing trend among many youths and children who face significant challenges due to forced land evictions. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2023 report paints a stark picture, with 45% of primary school pupils and 30% of secondary school students failing to complete their education due to forced displacement and instability.
In Uganda, unabated land grabbing, mainly for business interests, has had a detrimental effect on millions of people. Vivian’s case is one of 90 unlawful land evictions that Witness Radio—Uganda documented in the first half of 2024.
During the release of Witness Radio’s latest report titled Forced Evictions in Uganda, presented on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at the 6th Symposium on Business and Human Rights, Mr. Christopher Kiwanuka, Director of Programs at Witness Radio, revealed the staggering figure of over 360,000 people affected by land grabbing between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024.
According to the research report, the 90 documented cases involve 121,442.83 hectares of land threatened to be grabbed, affecting at least 363,021 Ugandans. Completed forced land evictions were thirty-one (31) 31 cases, leaving 22,962 people homeless and seizing 7,150.7 hectares of land.
In the remaining cases, while the land has not been fully seized, residents continue to face persistent and violent threats of eviction, impacting 340,059 people and placing an additional 114,292.13 hectares of land at risk.
The report reveals a staggering reality: four cases of land evictions are reported weekly, affecting approximately 15,126 people and threatening 5,060.12 hectares of land across the country. This daily displacement of an estimated 2,160 Ugandans due to forced land evictions, while 723 hectares of land are at risk of being grabbed, underscores the urgent need for intervention.
The results show that, with sixty-seven (67) out of 90 recorded incidents, corporate businesses are the leading cause of forcible land evictions in Uganda. Eleven (11) cases include tribe and family land conflicts, and twelve (12) cases involve government entities. Key findings from the monitoring of these cases majorly involve multinational companies such as Agilis Partners Ltd., Great Seasons Ltd., East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), and Formosa Ltd, a subsidiary of Quality Parts Limited, as well as local investors, wealthy and bigshots with extensive power-connection to government involved in land grabbing and the criminalization of landgrab critics.
The Central region’s proximity makes it a desirable target for land grabbers, which leads to a concerning trend of land evictions, according to the report’s conclusions. With 52 documented occurrences, the region routinely has the most eviction cases, followed closely by the Western region with 24. The Northern region has 8 cases, and the Eastern region has the fewest cases, with six incidences.
Mr. Kiwanuka highlighted the rigorous process of data collection, which involved a variety of sources including Victims, the Witness Radio Land Eviction Portal, call-ins, newspapers, CSO reports, official reports, personal observations and contacts, court documents, law enforcement and security personnel, and pertinent service providers. This comprehensive approach ensured that the cases were thoroughly monitored, investigated, and documented by the research team of Witness Radio.
Accordingly, during the same period, Witness Radio documented 65 cases of attacks against community land and environment rights defenders (LEDs), as well as climate activists challenging illegal land evictions and corporate harm to the environment in Uganda. Attacks recorded include arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions, confiscation of property, cattle in particular, intimidation and threats, and others.
Mr. Kiwanuka further noted the growing concerns of increased violence in forced land evictions, where armed gangs enforced 37 evictions on behalf of evictors, 25 cases by Uganda police, 5 cases involved the participation of some soldiers of the Uganda Army, whereas 4 cases involved the private security companies.
“Most of the evictions have been characterized by violence, including killings, criminalization, judicial harassment, and torture. Additionally, those who master the courage to defend others or their communities face the wrath of these powerful land grabbers. They act with impunity and often disregard government orders on forced land evictions.” Mr. Kiwanuka revealed this during the report launch.
Witness Radio calls on the government to ensure victims’ justice, protect local communities, and enforce adherence to existing land laws and regulations. It further calls for an end to corruption and abuse of power, particularly in the land registries, army, and police, where the rights of underprivileged groups are routinely subordinated to the interests of wealthy people.
It also exhorts companies to follow responsible investing guidelines and other pertinent business frameworks to prevent corporate harm to communities.
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
New report: EACOP threatens tourism and biodiversity in Greater Masaka.
Published
1 week agoon
April 16, 2025
By Witness Radio team.
A new report urgently warns about the imminent threats posed by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) to the tourism sites of the Greater Masaka subregion, demanding immediate attention and action.
In a recently released research brief by the Inclusive Green Economy Network-East Africa (IGEN-EA), “Tourism Potential of Greater Masaka vis-à-vis EACOP Project Risks,” IGEN-EA reveals the area’s diverse tourism prospects. These prospects bring massive wealth to the country as a result of its rich biodiversity and tourist attractions, but they are at risk of destruction by the EACOP project.
The EACOP project involves the construction of a 1,444km heated pipeline from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga in Tanzania, which will transport crude oil from Tilenga and Kingfisher fields. The project has been widely criticized for its environmental and social concerns. The pipeline has displaced at least 13,000 people in Uganda and Tanzania.
Experts say the Masaka subregion has sustainable tourism potential. However, the EACOP could negatively impact it by further fueling the climate crisis, causing biodiversity loss, and driving a population influx, among other things.
The Inclusive Green Economy Network-East Africa (IGEN-EA) is a network that unites over thirty-six (36) private sector players and civil society organizations (CSOs) from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. The organizations undertake research, raise stakeholder awareness, and advocate to promote green economic alternatives, including clean energy, sustainable tourism, organic agriculture and fisheries, forestry, and natural resources management.
Located in southern Uganda and bordering Tanzania, Greater Masaka comprises nine districts: Kalungu, Masaka, Rakai, Sembabule, Lwengo, Kalangala, Lyantonde, Bukomansimbi, and Kyotera. Four of these, Kyotera, Rakai, Sembabule, and Lwengo, are crossed by the eacop mega project, which transports crude oil from Hoima to Port Tanga of Tanzania.
The research study’s findings reveal that the 1,443km EACOP is set to affect River Kibale/Bukora in Kyotera and Rakai districts. The river is one of the most important in the Sango Bay-Musambwa Island-Kagera (SAMUKA) Ramsar Wetland System, renowned for hosting 65 mammal species and 417 bird species. Further, the EACOP is set to affect River Katonga, the water body on whose banks Bigo by Mugenyi, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is located.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Report 2024, tourism contributed approximately 4.7% to Uganda’s GDP, and the sector has experienced significant recovery and growth. However, destroying essential tourism sites poses substantial risks to the industry.
The report underscores that the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the EACOP could lead to the irrevocable loss of the biodiversity mentioned above. This grave concern could significantly diminish Greater Masaka’s tourism potential.
“The proposed construction method of the EACOP, the open cut method, as well as the planned monitoring of the EACOP, including at river crossings, every five years and using the pigging method, instead of cathodic protection for corrosion control purposes, puts rivers and Ramsar sites at risk of oil pollution among other impacts. This could cause biodiversity loss and affect scenic views, negatively impacting tourism potential”. The report further reads.
Research report also estimates that the full value chain carbon emissions of the EACOP, which includes emissions from all stages of the pipeline’s life cycle, including extraction, transportation, and refining, are projected at over 379 million metric tonnes over 25 years.
“Carbon emissions are a driver of climate change, which has been implicated in contributing to biodiversity loss, including in Uganda. The climate risks of the EACOP thereby present a risk to eco- and agro-tourism in the Greater Masaka sub-region.” The research adds.
However, the report further implored the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, through the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), to prioritize the development of highlighted sites and promote cultural tourism in the subregion.
According to Mr. Dickens Kamugisha of the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), the government claims that projects like EACOP are aimed at addressing poverty are unrealistic.
He noted that such projects have instead triggered biodiversity concerns, contributed to climate change, and posed significant social risks, such as increased crime rates and disruption of local communities. He emphasized that investing in sustainable economic activities such as tourism would benefit the government and private sector more.
Mr. Paul Lubega Muwonge, a member of IGEN-EA, emphasizes the crucial role of research in tourism product development and its value in laying a strong foundation for all operations.
“Research is an important and desired step in tourism product development; it sets a stronger foundation in all operations. We hope that the Ugandan government and development partners will use this research to harness the benefits of tourism by launching tourist activities in the Greater Masaka sub-region, Masaka.” He said.
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
World Bank announces multimillion-dollar redress fund after killings and abuse claims at Tanzanian project
Published
2 weeks agoon
April 10, 2025
A pastoralist indicates the border of Ruaha national park after the expansion. People allege they have faced violent evictions, disappearances and had cattle seized. Photograph: Michael Goima/The Guardian
Communities in Ruaha national park reject response to alleged assault and evictions of herders during tourism scheme funded by the bank.
The World Bank is embarking on a multimillion-dollar programme in response to alleged human rights abuses against Tanzanian herders during a flagship tourism project it funded for seven years.
Allegations made by pastoralist communities living in and around Ruaha national park include violent evictions, sexual assaults, killings, forced disappearances and large-scale cattle seizures from herders committed by rangers working for the Tanzanian national park authority (Tanapa).
The pastoralists say most of the incidents took place after the bank approved $150m (£116m) for the Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth (Regrow) project September in 2017, aimed at developing tourism in four protected areas in southern Tanzania in a bid to take pressure off heavily touristed northern areas such as Ngorongoro and the Serengeti.
In 2023, two individuals wrote to the bank accusing some Tanapa employees of “extreme cruelty” during cattle seizures and having engaged in “extrajudicial killings” and the “disappearance” of community members.
The Oakland Institute, a US-based thinktank that is advising the communities, and which alerted the World Bank to abuses in April 2023, says Ruaha doubled in size from 1m to more than 2m hectares (2.5m to 5m acres) during the project’s lifetime – a claim the bank denies. It says the expansion took place a decade earlier. Oakland claims 84,000 people from at least 28 villages were affected by the expansion plan.
This week, the bank published a 70-page report following its own investigation, which found “critical failures in the planning and supervision of this project and that these have resulted in serious harm”. The report, published on 2 April, notes that “the project should have recognised that enhancing Tanapa’s capacity to manage the park could potentially increase the likelihood of conflict with communities trying to access the park.”
Anna Bjerde, World Bank managing director of operations, said, “We regret that the Regrow project preparation and supervision did not sufficiently account for project risks, resulting in inadequate mitigation measures to address adverse impacts. This oversight led to the bank overlooking critical information during implementation.”
The report includes recommendations aimed at redressing harms done and details a $2.8m project that will support alternative livelihoods for communities inside and around the park. It will also help fund a Tanzanian NGO that provides legal advice to victims of crime who want to pursue justice through the courts.
A second, much bigger project, understood to be worth $110, will fund alternative livelihoods across the entire country, including Ruaha.
The total investment, thought to be the largest amount the bank has ever allocated to addressing breaches of its policies, is a reflection of the serious nature of the allegations.

The bank had already suspended Regrow funding in April 2024 after its own investigation found the Tanzanian government had violated the bank’s resettlement policy and failed to create a system to report violent incidents or claim redress. The project was cancelled altogether in November 2024. A spokesperson said the bank “remains deeply concerned about the serious nature of the reports of incidents of violence and continues to focus on the wellbeing of affected communities”.
By the time the project was suspended the bank had already disbursed $125m of the $150m allocated to Regrow.
The Oakland Institute estimates that economic damages for farmers and pastoralists affected by livelihood restrictions, run into tens of millions of dollars.
Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, said the “scathing” investigation “confirmed the bank’s grave wrongdoing which devastated the lives of communities. Pastoralists and farms who refused to be silenced amid widespread government repression, are now vindicated.”
She added that the bank’s response was “beyond shameful”.
“Suggesting that tens of thousands of people forced out of their land can survive with ‘alternative livelihoods’ such as clean cooking and microfinance is a slap in the face of the victims.”
Inspection panel chair Ibrahim Pam said critical lessons from the Regrow case will be applied to all conservation projects that require resettlement and restrict access to parks, especially those implemented by a law enforcement agency.

Regrow was given the go ahead in 2017. The Oakland Institute described its cancellation by the government in 2024 as a landmark victory, but said communities “remain under siege – still facing evictions, crippling livelihood restrictions and human rights abuses”.
In one village near the southern border of Ruaha, the brother of a young man who was killed three years ago while herding cattle in an area adjacent to the park, said: “It feels like it was yesterday. He had a wife, a family. Now the wife has to look after the child by herself.” He did not want to give his name for fear of reprisal.
Another community member whose husband was allegedly killed by Tanapa staff said: “I feel bad whenever I remember what happened to my husband. We used to talk often. We were friends. I was pregnant with his child when he died. He never saw his daughter. Now I just live in fear of these [Tanapa-employed] people.”

The Oakland Institute said the affected communities reject the bank’s recommendations, and have delivered a list of demands that includes “reverting park boundaries to the 1998 borders they accepted, reparations for livelihood restrictions, the resumption of suspended basic services, and justice for victims of ranger abuse and violence.
“Villagers are determined to continue the struggle for their rights to land and life until the bank finally takes responsibility and remedies the harms it caused.”
The bank has said it has no authority to pay compensation directly.
Wildlife-based tourism is a major component of Tanzania’s economy, contributing more than one quarter of the country’s foreign exchange earnings in 2019. The bank has said any future community resettlement will be the government’s decision.
Source: The Guardian
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Resource Center
- LAND GRABS AT GUNPOINT REPORT IN KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT
- RESEARCH BRIEF -TOURISM POTENTIAL OF GREATER MASAKA -MARCH 2025
- The Mouila Declaration of the Informal Alliance against the Expansion of Industrial Monocultures
- FORCED LAND EVICTIONS IN UGANDA TRENDS RIGHTS OF DEFENDERS IMPACT AND CALL FOR ACTION
- 12 KEY DEMANDS FROM CSOS TO WORLD LEADERS AT THE OPENING OF COP16 IN SAUDI ARABIA
- PRESENDIANTIAL DIRECTIVE BANNING ALL LAND EVICTIONS IN UGANDA
- FROM LAND GRABBERS TO CARBON COWBOYS A NEW SCRAMBLE FOR COMMUNITY LANDS TAKES OFF
- African Faith Leaders Demand Reparations From The Gates Foundation.
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