In this edition of Uganda Radio Network’s National Perspective, our team spent months speaking with farmers, landowners, lawyers, and activists across Uganda’s oil-rich Albertine Graben and along the route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).
We also reviewed court documents, compensation reports, and environmental assessments. What we found is a story of promise, displacement, and contested development. It touches lives, livelihoods, and the very land people call home. Dispossessed landowners describe justice delayed and justice denied, and explain how Albertine Graben oil developments are starting to feel like a curse.
Listen: Voices from the Albertine
If the player does not load, you can listen to the audio report here.
Albertine Graben oil: what the report covers
The report follows families whose land was taken for the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil projects and for EACOP. Many say compensation undervalued their crops and homes. Others refused payment and saw the government deposit the money in court instead.
In addition, communities in Buliisa and Nwoya describe floods they link to oil infrastructure and a rise in human-wildlife conflict near Murchison Falls National Park. Meanwhile, regulators insist that the projects meet high environmental and social standards.
For the full written version of these testimonies, read The Pipeline and the Courts. You can also read how Uganda’s oil production is built on broken families.
Photos from the Albertine oil region
This report was produced with support from the Environmental Defenders Journalism Grants 2025. It was first published by Uganda Radio Network.