TotalEnergies, a French oil and gas company, has hired a former Beninese prime minister Lionel Zinsou to evaluate land acquisitions in Uganda and Tanzania, the firm announced on Thursday.
The assessment will be carried out under the Tilenga oil and East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project.
TotalEnergies is being sued by activist groups, led by Friends of the Earth France, for alleged negligence in protecting the well-being of local communities and the environment. However, the company denies the accusations.
TotalEnergies announced that as the land acquisition process nears completion, Zinsou will evaluate the procedures used, the consultation protocols, the compensation and resettlement of affected individuals, as well as the mechanisms for addressing grievances.
TotalEnergies has stated that the Tilenga and EACOP projects encompass a land acquisition initiative covering across 6,400 hectares (15,815 acres).
This program is being conducted on behalf of the governments of Uganda and Tanzania. The program focuses on 19,140 households and communities that own or use land. It also includes relocation of 775 primary residences.
"To date, 98% of the households concerned have signed compensation agreements, 97% have received their compensation, and 98% of households to be relocated have taken possession of their new homes," TotalEnergies said in the press release.
The Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization, reported in July that its research indicated that the land acquisition procedure for the EACOP pipeline was a catastrophic failure.
"EACOP has been a disaster for the tens of thousands who have lost the land that provided food for their families and an income to send their children to school, and who received too little compensation from TotalEnergies," said Felix Horne, senior environment researcher at Human Rights Watch. "EACOP is also a disaster for the planet and the project should not be completed."
When successfully completed, the EACOP project will include a 1,443-kilometer pipeline connecting oil fields in western Uganda to the port of Tanga in eastern Tanzania, in addition to dozens of well pads, hundreds of kilometers of roads, camps, and other infrastructure.