KABALE, UGANDA – The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, in collaboration with the Police’s Mineral Protection Unit, has launched a major crackdown on illegal mining activities in Western Uganda, leading to several arrests and site closures.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The operation, spearheaded by the Commissioner of Mines, Ms. Agnes Alaba, is being conducted in partnership with regional and national commanders from the Mineral Protection Unit, security intelligence officers, and other government officials. It began last week and targets illicit mining and trade of minerals such as tin, iron ore, gold, and wolfram.
In Kabale District, nine people were arrested during yesterday’s operations in Butare Cell (Rutooma Ward, Northern Division) and Nyakijumba Cell (Southern Division), Kabale Municipality. While reports indicate that most of the suspects fled after being tipped off.
The arresting team impounded trucks used to transport iron ore and deployed police officers to guard illegal mining sites, which were subsequently shut down at the Commissioner’s directive.
According to Ms. Alaba, many of the arrested individuals were involved in mining and trading minerals without the required licenses. She emphasized the government’s stance on mineral ownership, stating:
“The law is clear. All the minerals belong to the people of Uganda. It’s a wrong perception to claim otherwise. It’s true, the land may belong to individuals, but the minerals are owned and managed by the government on behalf of all Ugandans.”
She added that landowners aiding illegal miners by claiming ownership of minerals on their land are being treated as accomplices.
“In Isingiro and Ntungamo districts, a number of landowners were arrested for allowing miners to dig for tin, claiming ownership of minerals,” Ms. Alaba explained.
CUE IN: ALABA ON LAND OWNERS.
The Commissioner reiterated the government’s commitment to promoting value addition to minerals in a bid to curb the illegal export of raw resources, particularly gold, tin, and iron ore.
“Government’s policy is to ensure value addition, not just extraction and export,” Ms. Alaba said.
Ms. Alaba warned that Illegal Miners face up to seven years in Prison or a fine of 50,000 currency points (about shs.1 billion) upon conviction in courts of law
CUE IN: ALABA ON OPERATION.
ACP Julius Caesar Tusingwiire, who heads the Police Mineral Protection Unit, said that iron ore and wolfram remain the most smuggled minerals from Kabale and Rubanda Districts.
“We have held meetings and shared a lot of intelligence that has led to arrests. I can assure you that we are going to stop the smuggling of these minerals,” Tusingwiire stated.
CUE IN: TUSINGWIIRE ON SMUGGLING.
Tusingwiire explained that the people being arrested from illegal the mining sites were Ugandans, Burundians Indians, Chinese, and other various countries.
He said that they would be arraigned before Court and charged under the provisions of the Mining and Mineral Act 2022.
The operation team also visited several mining sites and raised concern over the alarming rate of environmental degradation caused by unregulated mining.
In Butare Cell, a stretch of roughly 1.5 kilometers revealed dangerous terrain, with deep and wide ground openings that experts warn could trigger landslides. In some areas, houses were seen precariously perched above pits where iron ore had been extracted from beneath residential land.
The team was set to resume crackdown activities extending the operations to Rubanda and Kisoro Districts while they also planned to conduct radio talkshows on Mass sensitization about the laws guiding Mining Operations.
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