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Ugandan farmers whose land will soon become a crude oil pipeline pathway lose years of livelihood
After years of uncertainty, communities are demanding proper compensation from major oil companies who will soon begin construction of a major pipeline through their land.
Image Credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation/Isaac Kasamani
Three years ago, Alfred Okumu Weki’s land was identified for acquisition by multinational oil companies and the Ugandan government to pave way for new oil infrastructure in the Albertine region of Western Uganda where major oil reserves were discovered over a decade ago. To this day, however, no pipeline has been built. This has left Weki and others in the community in a state of constant limbo, unable to plant crops and earn a livelihood from their land due to fear that at any moment construction could begin.