Uganda Radio Network has through interviews with artisan miners, and experts in mining policy and regulation discovered that almost two years since the law was assented to, the formalization of the artisan miners has not gone on as expected.
Gold mining in Amudat is illegal to the extent that the government does not officially recognize the district in its mineral databases. As a result, the district has never received any revenue from mining activities. The gold extracted from the area is smuggled into Kenya, and this trade is attracting people from as far as Rwanda and Tanzania. Chinese too loom around buying gold and engaging in large-scale illegal mining.
UMEME’s 20-year contract as Uganda’s electricity distributor ends on March 31, 2025, after which the government will transfer full responsibility to the Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) starting April 1, 2025.
The company was suspended by the Ministry of Energy together with the security team in Amudat district following the death of two workers in two days in November 2024.
Over the past decade, Uganda has become a gold trading hub in the region. With lax regulations and the involvement of powerful figures, the country has earned a notorious reputation as the "epicenter of gold laundering in Africa," as J.R. Mailey, an expert on corruption at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told the New York Times recently.
Roy Nyamutale Baguma, the Managing Director of UECCC, said the project involves the construction of nine mini-power plants with a combined capacity of 6.7 megawatts and the establishment of a local distribution network spanning 288 kilometers within the project area.
Umeme's 20-year concession ends in March 2025, and UEDCL's takeover of the distribution mandate is in line with the government's decision not to renew any expiring distribution license held by a private company.
The government recently imposed a $200 export tax on each kilogram of god exported. It also waived royalties on gold produced in the country. Whoever intends to e import gold must possess an importation permit charged at $270.
Nankabirwa said that the government was already in the process of upgrading and rehabilitating transmission lines in the sub-region to ensure that the end users have a reliable power supply.
Uganda National Oil Company had applied for a license in Kenya to directly import fuel using the Kenya Pipeline. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) however turned down the request saying that UNOC did not meet most of the criteria.
