A Paris court dismissed a complaint filed by six French and Ugandan environmental and human rights organizations trying to block the construction of the 1,443-kilometer East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) from Uganda to Tanzania.
The activists had accused Total Energies, the principal investor in the $5 billion Eacop, of failing to adequately safeguard the environment and people.
The court, however, determined that the case was not only inadmissible but also required an in-depth study to see whether the claims against the corporation were warranted, including an audit of ground operations.
“We are yet to consider the next line of action,” Dickens Kamugisha, CEO of the Uganda-based African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), one of the plaintiffs, remarked after the ruling.
“It is unfortunate that the court opted not to evaluate the merits but rather technicalities after three years of effort,” he added.
Uganda’s oil project entails digging approximately 400 wells, the majority of which are located in the Murchison Falls National Park.
