AfrOil: Regional court dismisses case seeking to halt work on EACOP

Uganda and Tanzania have chalked up a victory in their quest to build the $3.5bn East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), as a regional court has dismissed a case filed by civil society groups opposed to the project. Specifically, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) refused to grant a temporary injunction that aimed to stop the construction of the pipeline.

The Africa Institute for Energy Governance, Natural Justice, Centre for Strategic Litigation and the Centre for Food and Adequate Living Rights had filed a case against the governments of Uganda and Tanzania and the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) challenging EACOP at the EACJ in November 2020.

In their ruling, the EACJ judges held that the applicants had filed the case too late to ensure the court’s jurisdiction over the matter. The ruling was based on the fact that Uganda and Tanzania signed a host government agreement (HGA) for the project in 2017.