Rights Groups Say Villagers Not Compensated for East Africa Oil Pipeline

KAMPALA - Chinese and French oil companies involved in the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, to be built from Uganda to Tanzania, say affected villagers are being compensated. But rights groups representing hundreds of families who will be displaced by the project tell a different story. 

The $3.5 billion project is projected to run 1,450 kilometers from the southwestern Homia district of Uganda to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania.  On Sunday, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania signed three agreements paving the way for construction of the pipeline, expected to be completed in 2025.  Kitutu Mary Goretti, Uganda's minister for energy and mineral development, says the agreements will be a significant boost to Uganda's economy and its people.