Nkurunziza Alphonse knows that every time he goes out to protest, he could get arrested, even detained for a lengthy period in Kampala’s maximum security prison. It has happened before. Still, as he sat in a courtroom on Tuesday, watching another batch of protesters arraigned, Alphonse said he has no plans to stop marching.
The 25-year-old student is one of scores of people detained in recent months by Ugandan authorities for demonstrating against an oil pipeline project. The nearly 1,445km (898-mile) long East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will stretch from Uganda to Tanzania’s coast, transporting crude. It is set to be the longest heated-oil pipeline in the world. However, activists say it will displace thousands, destroy wetlands and contaminate water sources.
