The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development Evicted Artisanal will resettle Artisanal and Small Scale Miners-ASMs a month after they were evicted.     

Last month, the Mineral Police Unit evicted the miners on grounds that they engaged into illegal mining in areas which had been licensed for exploration to Hubel Jiu-Zhou Geological Exploration Company Limited, a Chinese company.     

The Chinese company acquired a three-year exploration license for the 88.646 square kilometres on December 8, 2016.

In 2017, the company sued artisanal miners for encroaching on its gold site. In the suit filed at Mbarara High Court, the company noted that nearly 10,000 artisanal gold miners were illegally operating on its site and therefore wants them evicted.   

Speaking at the citizen’s convention on mining organized by civil societies advocating for miners rights under the leadership of Global Rights Alert, Eng. Vincent Kedi, the Principal Engineer for Mining at the Department of Geological Survey, says that the ministry is currently studying the situation so as to come up with long-lasting solutions as they did in Mubende.

He, however, says that the resettlement plans have to wait up to the next license renewal in the area since the exploration’s license will expire in December.
Deusdedit Bainomugisha, the chairperson of Buhweju small scale miners says they were ready to meet whatever conditions that the ministry was suggesting so as to legalize their presence in the area but were not given a chance.

He adds they have always asked the authorities to award them location licenses off the main exploration license in vain.