Uganda: CSO urges East African Crude Oil Pipeline's (EACOP) institutional investors to be held accountable for human rights abuses in Kingfisher development area; incl. co. responses and non-responses
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In May 2025, Just Finance International (JFI) published the report titled From Kingfisher to the Lakes: How Human Rights Violations in EACOP Hotspot Underscore Larger Trends of Abuse in the AfDB-funded LEAF II Project in Northwestern Uganda, documenting the human rights abuses in the Kingfisher development project area under the EACOP project with witness' testimonies. Violations included forced displacement, sexual harrassment, loss of livelihoods of local villagers, environmental degradation and arbitary detention.
Observing the increasing difficulty for EACOP to acquire fund through direct financing and insurance, JFI highlighted its growing dependence on shareholder capital, which underscores the responsibilities of institutional investors backing the two largest operators and shareholders of the EACOP project, TotalEnergies EP Uganda and CNOOC.
In the recommendations section, JFI urged investers to perform an independent investigation to address the human rights abuses in the Kingfisher development project area, and to hold EACOP companies accountable to stricter human rights due diligence and compensation as a prerequisite for continued investment.
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited the following companies mentioned in the report to respond to the allegation:
- Shareholders: TotalEnergies EP Uganda, CNOOC Uganda Limited
- 14 out of top 25 EU investors in EACOP companies (excluding those which had given an official response to JFI): La Banque Postale, Carmignac Gestion, Eleva Capital, La Financière de l'Échiquier, Credit Mutuel, Deka Group, Groupe BPCE, Sjunde AP-fonden (AP-7), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Anima Holding SpA, Aviva, Schroders, Aberdeen Group plc, Janus Henderson
TotalEnergies, Groupe BPCE, La Banque Postale, Anima Holding S.p.A., Aviva and La Financière de l'Echiquier responded. Janus Henderson, Schroders, Legal & General Investment Management, Sjunde AP-fonden, DekaBank, Credit Mutuel, Eleva Capital, Carmignac Gestion, CNOOC and Aberdeen Group PLC did not respond