report exposes the human toll of Uganda’s oil push.

Uganda struck oil along the shores of Lake Albert, international investors hailed it as East Africa’s next great energy frontier. China’s Cnooc, France’s TotalEnergies, and the state-backed Uganda National Oil Company positioned the Kingfisher project as a model of modern extraction. But a new investigation by the Environment Governance Institute and Climate Rights International suggests the project is fast becoming a case study in how fossil fuel deals can go wrong, economically, socially and ecologically. Behind the government promises of growth and infrastructure lies a reality of military-enforced displacement, collapsing livelihoods, environmental damage and a surge in gendered exploitation. The abuses detailed in the report echo patterns seen in extractive projects from the Niger Delta to the Ecuadorian Amazon, where communities pay the price for wealth they will never see. Now, Uganda’s oil gamble is not only reshaping local lives, it is testing the global claims of ethical energy investment in the Global South. Their findings raise an uncomfortable question: Who is development for, if those living on the land pay the highest price? Residents in the Kingfisher project area now live under constant military surveillance. The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) enforce curfews, monitor movement, and restrict access to the lake, according to the report. Roadblocks and boat seizures have turned everyday life into a negotiation with armed power. Fishing communities, long dependent on the lake, report being stopped, searched, and sometimes detained without explanation. The report notes that restrictions “have devastated traditional livelihoods,” with women and children particularly affected as the military presence disrupts daily commerce and community life. Fishing, once the backbone of the local economy, is collapsing under the weight of extortion and arbitrary “fees.” Fishermen whose boats are impounded rarely recover them. Those who cannot pay bribes lose their only source of income. Women, who dominate fish trading and small-scale commerce, face harassment at informal checkpoints, pushing them further to the margins. This isn’t just economic pressure; it’s the quiet erasure of a way of life. Oil infrastructure has reshaped the lake itself. A metallic wall erected to secure installations has disrupted critical fish breeding zones. Residents say the water has grown murkier and carries a chemical smell near extraction points. With no alternatives, families continue to use the lake for drinking, cooking, and washing, even as fears of waterborne disease rise. The lake that once sustained them is becoming a source of anxiety. Land acquisition has been routed through Bucoola, a Cnooc-linked company, allowing the oil consortium to bypass traditional landowners and avoid compensation obligations. Families report evictions at gunpoint, with no resettlement support and no transparency about their rights. A Resettlement Action Plan exists, but remains unpublished. This quiet land grab exposes how state power and private capital converge to push people out with minimal scrutiny. Despite changes in local military leadership, sexual exploitation persists around the project. Some women and girls have turned to transactional sex as economic survival narrows. Teenage pregnancies are rising fastest in villages closest to drilling sites. Schools and clinics remain under-resourced and overwhelmed. Oil was meant to bring opportunity. For many women, it has deepened vulnerability. The Kingfisher project, together with Tilenga and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), is projected to emit 379 million tonnes of CO2 over the next 25 years. That’s more than twice the combined annual emissions of Uganda and Tanzania.Uganda travel guides The figures stand in direct conflict with the Paris climate goals. As world leaders urge rapid decarbonization, Uganda is steering itself into a future locked to fossil fuel dependency. WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE—AND FAST The report issues a set of urgent demands. First, it calls for an immediate suspension of oil operations and an independent investigation into abuses. A temporary halt, the authors argue, is the only way to properly assess the human rights violations and environmental harm already unfolding. It also urges full compensation and legal redress for communities that have been displaced or stripped of their livelihoods. Silence and dispossession, the report notes, cannot be the cost of development. Another recommendation is a shift away from fossil fuel expansion toward community-led renewable energy initiatives. Instead of deepening dependence on oil, the groups push for investments that place people—not projects—at the center. Finally, the report demands strict adherence to international human rights and environmental standards. It presses Cnooc, TotalEnergies, and state authorities to comply with global frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles and IFC performance guidelines. These measures, the authors warn, are not just corrective—they are necessary if Uganda’s energy ambitions are to avoid becoming a long-term liability. Kingfisher is no longer just a Ugandan issue. Financial institutions, climate advocates, and international observers see it as a warning to emerging oil economies: when governance is weak, fossil fuel investments can deepen poverty instead of reducing it. Uganda now stands at a crossroads. The choices made—by government, companies, and financiers—will determine whether oil becomes a national asset or a generational wound. This is no longer just about profit or policy. It’s about the lives reshaped by decisions made far from the lakeshore, and the future of communities who were promised prosperity but handed something else entirely. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE KINGFISHER OIL INVESTIGATION MILITARIZED CONTROL Residents live under UPDF surveillance with curfews, checkpoints, and boat seizures disrupting daily life. LIVELIHOODS DESTROYED Fishing communities face extortion, equipment confiscation, and economic exclusion, especially among women traders. ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE Oil infrastructure is degrading Lake Albert’s water quality and destroying fish breeding zones. LAND LOSS WITHOUT JUSTICE Families are being displaced through a CNOOC-linked entity, with no compensation or public resettlement plan. GENDERED VULNERABILITY Economic desperation has driven a spike in survival sex work and teenage pregnancies near oil sites. CLIMATE IMPACT Projected emissions from Kingfisher, Tilenga, and EACOP exceed 379 million tons of CO2 over 25 years—far above Uganda and Tanzania’s annual output combined. WHAT’S BEING DEMANDED Civil society calls for a halt to operations, reparations for affected communities, accountability for abuses, and a pivot to renewable energy.