A tale of a defender in development

Op-Ed: Nothing beats seeing your work transform lives and Communities. Probably you have seen communities or strangers being disrespected that is if you are not a victim yourself.

Defenders risk their lives, sacrifice beautiful memories, allow to be called names like development sabotage, foreign agents and others, lawyers forgo their dream of legal careers because they are deeply engrossed in defending vulnerable groups and communities in the face of harmful development coupled with human rights’ abuses, exclusion, threats, repression and violence.

I was in the last semester of second year at the university (Uganda Christian University) around 2018 when I was enchanted into environmental and human rights activism. During that time, I was pursuing a course in Oil and Gas, yearning to work in the oil sector, strategically to get employed, avoid pink slipped and being out of work. Also, during that time, I was doing a lot of writing and research on many of social issues we were facing as a country.

Perhaps, it was a benchmark and life turning opportunity to be singled out by Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), one of the organizations that was doing environment and human rights work. They offered me full support to visit oil and Bugoma forest communities.

During the visit, we had a filming screening with some Projected Affected Persons (PAPs) on the impacts of oil and gas in Ecuador and Nigeria oil host communities. It was devastating, disastrous and so depressing seeing communities share stories of what they were told and what they are experienced.

That was a wave, signal and decisive moment in my life. I was at crossroads of two interests, one which would be a breakthrough to perhaps a luxurious oil money lifestyle and the other an impactful life (that I didn’t know then though). I choose to work for communities that were displaced and evicted with little compensation, youth that had started to drop out of school because of the situations and women that were rolling their tears because of their husbands went away after receiving the little handshakes as compensation.

After a week of a shocking blaze in the field, I returned back to with a lot of questions surrounding on why would companies and the government be that inhuman because of money that I had once dreams to have and what can I do to help. I started doing research, writing and mobilizing other youth voices to speak for communities, and now plus the environment. Oil Refinery Resident Association(ORRA) gave me my first job to empower women affected on their land rights, and the rest is history, I became a “DEFENDER”. The choice of life to be lived.

It might be very hard to believe that my choice  was away the stellar legal career I visualized but what I didn’t realise though was that I was to be tied to that seat for this long without knowing when I will stop or if I will ever. That time  passes by without any notice. That the sun goes shining business without being cognizant of all my efforts but at least I see good signs, positive change and unprecedented participation of youth and indigenous communities.

That beauty with this work is that you know what you are fighting for and who you are fighting against. Particularly, together with other defenders we have been fighting against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) owned by Total Energies (62%), CNOOC (8%) and the government of Uganda and Tanzania (each owning 15%). EACOP is a 1,443 km pipeline passing through the heart of Africa while displacing communities, destroying ecosystems and endangering wildlife. It began with Civil Society Organizations condemning human rights abuses related to land and environment. They supported communities to diplomatically petition and engage corporations, responsible government ministries and agencies but no answers were given.

And now the young people are asking questions on where EACOP will leave them, their children and grandchildren. Together, we are protesting peaceful in front of oil companies, parliament, mandate ministries, embassies and others looking for answers and actions towards the community and environmental concerns.

We creating and building connections and linkages with our oil affected communities to work together and share notes to peacefully demonstrate with our local communities against the harmful project to not only defend our communities but also how the future should look like amidst global climate chaos.

It begins in this setting but the whole story is oil companies using our leaders and institutions to enrich their already big net worth while leaving our communities having to deal with challenges of landlessness, loss of livelihoods, environmental degradation, climate change, family breakdowns and others they are already dealing and others faced by Nigeria, Ecuador and other oil host communities.

Elites are already eating through presidential oil handshakes; the president is already calling it his oil so what is the future of young people? Who will address the concerns of the host communities that have long be ignored.

All the work that I have done with young other defenders seem like a beautiful story. And yes, the successes are very visible. 29 commercial banks have withdrawn from supporting the project. 28 insurance companies do not insure the project. These actions are shifting public opinion. The public is understanding the narrative story of communities. The communities and youth are creating spaces and platforms to speak on real and uncomfortable one – sided issues and the issues of communities are being heard.

The most thrilling success is that the youth are taking charge and the communities are calling for green sustainable alternatives. Communities have demo farms, beekeeping projects, tree planting projects and others. It is working, it is generating incomes for them to afford life. Perhaps the government and corporations should invest in it more to yield better because it is working.

One who is a lover of news knows that this has come with a cost. Environmental and human right defenders have been arrested, detained, remanded and now many of them  facing fabricated criminal cases of either common nuisance, incitement to violence or unlawful assembly. The space for the groups that we are affiliated with are shrinking. We are being called names of sabotage and others but success and happy communities overheads that.

As defender, you don’t quit in tough times or when you face repression, threats or violence but you fight peaceful and build effective responses to defend what is right. Recently, we complained to the UN Special Rapporteurs in charge environmental defenders and freedom of expression on the concerns of arrest of climate defenders.

We filed cases against police officers who command arrests of defenders of communities and environment without justification to be liable in their individual capacities in addition of government through the attorney General. We shall not back down and sleep with the increasing reports that Chinese firms what to foot the construction bill of the pipeline that is harming our communities and destroying our nature. of the charges that are never proved. Together with others are learning about Chinese and their overseas policies  and the guarantee is that we shall also tell them that no development should disrespect human rights.

The journey of a defender should be a reflective concept for any young person to stop and think about life and the future. When you do, you will realise that the future will be destroyed if our generation ignores it today, it is entirely very much of sacrifice and it is betrayal if we do not defend it for the future generations.

The author is Aryampa Brighton, a proud defender.

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