ADRESS CHILD LABOUR IN UGANDA's MINING SECTOR

 https://chimpreports.com/opinion-address-child-labour-in-ugandas-mining-sector/

By Phillo Aryatwijuka, 

Behind the beautiful well-constructed houses, hotels, work places that we love and are proud of, to our beautiful gold accessories that we proudly wear there is a sad child labour story of a child miner who misses school and is exploited all day long. A story of one Aleper Paul who toils every day at Kosiroi Tororo Cement limestone Mining site in Moroto District to break the limestone rocks for cement companies to make for us building cement  to another story of Nakiru Veronica who works with her parents to break and pile marble at Rata Mining site in marble rich Rupa Sub county and sell to middlemen who in turn sell it to paint companies as a raw material for that beautiful paint you love on your walls and not forgetting a one Moru Paul a child gold Miner who survived a mine collapse accident last year just to bring us that much needed gold that ends up on one of our gold accessories that we love so much.

This is the price children are paying to survive as they provide raw materials for the construction sector needs mainly housing and big infrastructure projects like roads whose demand is growing tremendously in Uganda and across the region, the demand of development minerals; aggregates, dimension stones,sand,marble,limestone among others. The question is for how long can we keep silent as we watch our children being exploited and wasting away their future as they build the roads we enjoy driving on, the houses and cities we love?

Currently Uganda has in place a strong legal and regulatory framework pertaining to child labour particularly the Child Labour Policy 2016 and the National Action Plan for elimination of child labour which focuses on operationalizing the policy as well as other key laws like the Children’s Act 2016 and the employment Act. Uganda has further gone ahead to ratify the international Labour Organization (ILO) and other UN conventions on child labour. Despite this Child labour in mining which is categorized among the worst forms continues to be on the rise in the mining sector.

The recent study conducted by Ecological Christian Organization (ECO) in the gold mining areas of Moroto shows that mining contributes to low school attendance and low retention in schools. Children from as young as 5-16years are spending their time carrying out activities like fetching water a main ingredient in gold mining for as far as 5 kilometer from the mining sites to doing underground excavation work as well as panning. The effects of this work translate to health problems like chest pains, extreme fatigue, and external wounds among others in the children. It’s not surprising that when one visits the mining sites there is always astonishment when a child mentions their age. My surprise came with my first encounter with one  15 year old Nandonga Regina a child Miner from Lomario village in Rupa mineral rich sub county who at that time looked like 10 years and that clearly reflected to retardation in growth.

Without doubt the Government of Uganda needs to rise up to this challenge with support and collaboration from different stakeholders and holistically address child labour in the mineral sector. A perfect example being addressing the resource constraints experienced by the local governments labour offices which are poorly underfunded to carry out inspections, monitoring and follow ups of child labour related cases to ensure that mining sites a child labour free. The other opportunity lies in the new mining policy of Uganda 2018 which speaks to organizing, licensing and regulating artisanal and small scale mining in Uganda which can largely contribute to elimination of child labour in ASM value chains by holding the ASM accountable

IT’S TIME TO PASS THE NEW MINERAL AND MINING POLICY

 

https://chimpreports.com/its-time-to-pass-the-new-mineral-and-mining-policy/

By Aryatwijuka Phillo, Program Officer,  

IT’S TIME TO PASS THE NEW MINERAL AND MINING POLICY

The recent report released by Global Witness on the Uganda’s mining sector cites a lot of concerns and irregularities in the mineral sector. Despite this Ugandans should appreciate that the Ugandan government has made progress in promoting and developing the budding sector in the past 10 years. Notably is carrying out the review of the mining policy 2001, Implementation of the Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources Project that conducted airborne geophysical surveys for the biggest part of the country, establishment of the mining Cadaster and Registry System, decentralizing the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines operations at regional levels and attracting some big mining investments like the USD 560 Sukulu phosphate project among others.

According to CNN news, in reaction to this report a spokesperson for the MEMD acknowledged problems with the licensing process and affirmed that it’s under review. “Some of the issues raised by the report such as licensing are brought about because of weaknesses and loopholes in mining policy and laws," the spokesman said. "The ministry is currently reviewing these policies and we hope that some of these challenges will be cleaned up."

 

The Uganda mining policy 2001 has been under review for the past three years. The review process involved a wide range of stakeholders in the consultative process. Currently the final draft mineral and mining policy 2016 is in place awaiting cabinet approval. This new draft mining policy addresses most of the gaps and irregularities cited in the licensing process, lack of formalization and regulation for ASM miners, revenue sharing, the issues of occupational health and safety, environment and protected areas among others

The question now is how long should Ugandans wait for the new policy that would address some of the key pertinent issues in the mining sector to be passed? For how long should the Artisanal and Small Scale Mining sector wait to be recognized and supported in recognition of its contribution to the production of more than 90% of metallic, industrial and building minerals and provision livelihoods of over 200,000 ASM?

Without question the government should prioritize the approval of the final draft mineral and mining policy 2016 and the subsequent review and approval of the Uganda’s Mining Act 2003 and regulations 2004. This will streamline and address some of the issues that are brought about by the current weak legal and regulatory regime in the mining sector in Uganda.

Karamoja’s budding mining sector reflects perfectly to the urgent need for a strong legal and regulatory framework considering that 64% of the land area is already under concessions despite the area not being covered by the airborne geo physical survey whose prospect could increase the concessions area land coverage. The strong implication of the weak legal regime in booming mining sector over such a big area in one of the poorest and vulnerable has a huge correlation with increased abuse of land/surface rights, indigenous rights, child exploitation, revenue sharing and environmental degradation among others.   

Considering that Karamoja has a delicate environment with evidently limited water resources and yet some of the lucrative minerals like gold mining that requires huge amounts of water, there is fear that communities will be more affected by water scarcity. Already in some mining areas mercury is being used in gold mining which is detrimental to human health.

Ultimately strengthening Uganda’s mining legal and regulatory framework could go a long way in ensuring that sustainability of the mining sector for the benefit of all Ugandans.

Develop the Neglected development minerals sector

 

https://chimpreports.com/opinion-develop-the-neglected-development-minerals-sector/

Develop the Neglected development minerals sector

Many of us live and work in structures constructed from neglected development minerals (industrial minerals; construction materials; dimension stones; and semi-precious stones). Again Ugandans own land that we sometimes call stony, sandy and not suitable for agriculture and yet this is all wealth. The neglected development minerals without doubt have close link with the local economy, and have potential to generate more local and accessible jobs for young people with a greater impact on poverty reduction.

For the past 10 years neglected development minerals have played a crucial role in Uganda’s economy through provision of raw materials for the construction sector, employment for ASM miners and widening the tax base. It should be noted that the construction industry in Uganda has grown from 2.5% past financial year to 5.7% this financial year (UBOS). This is attributed to urban areas that are mushrooming everywhere with 18% of Ugandans living in urban areas (UBOS 2014). On the other hand the government is undertaking a wide range of big energy and transport projects, including highways, hydropower dams and now a proposed crude oil pipeline and a refinery.

Similarly Global Construction 2025 predicts that emerging construction markets will see growth of 3 to 6% per year. In total, construction in 2025 is expected to exceed the value of $15 trillion and Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to be the second-highest growth region

This global construction trend is a big economic opportunity for Uganda that is rich in development minerals like sand that is widely used in all construction projects .Without doubt these neglected development minerals can bring us closer to achievement of SDG 9 that is emphatic on infrastructure development, Uganda vision 2040 and Africa Mining Vision.

For this to be achieved neglected development minerals have to be properly regulated and managed to provide employment, increase tax base and sustainably managed taking into consideration the environmental impact of extraction of these minerals.

In Uganda’s case the widely un regulated sector has experienced challenges a perfect example being is the recent concerns about illegal sand mining in Lwera that has raised a lot of concerns most of which were focused on the environmental perspective with less analysis on the economic losses Uganda has made from such un regulated ventures .

According to the United Nations, the annual global consumption of sand amounts to an estimated 40 billion tons, with the global building sector accounting for 75%.This makes sand and gravel the most-used natural resource in the world after water more than oil and gas (2014 United Nations Environment Program report). This is more reason to regulate sand mining in Uganda and other neglected minerals because of the constant ever growing demand, economic value and their adverse effect their extraction has on the environment.

On Uganda’s part several initiatives have been put in place by the government and key stakeholders to facilitate the development of this sector like the recent review of the mineral policy which has embedded key principles on neglected development minerals development and regulation in the draft final mineral policy. On the other hand government of Uganda through the Ministry of Energy and mineral development together with development partners have rolled out the ACP-EU Development Minerals Programme which focuses on supporting the small-scale private sector, mining, public institutions and communities in Uganda that operate in the low value mining and materials sector. This programme has special focus on capacity building. Such great initiatives are expected to propel the sector to the next level.

Member of the country working group on ACP-EU development minerals programme.(2016-2019)

 

LESSONS FROM THE ALBERTINE REGION COULD HELP DELIVER THE OIL PROMISE TO COMMUNITIES IN KARAMOJA

 

https://chimpreports.com/opinion-lessons-from-the-albertine-region-could-help-deliver-the-oil-promise-to-communities-in-karamoja/

By Aryatwijuka Phillo,  

LESSONS FROM THE ALBERTINE REGION COULD HELP DELIVER THE OIL PROMISE TO COMMUNITIES IN KARAMOJA

The reality of the effects of oil exploration hit Uganda’s Albertine region hard with the discovery of commercial quantities of oil and gas in 2006.From the big infrastructure projects that saw acquisition of over 29sq.km of land and consequently the displacement of over 7000 families in Kabaale Buseruka Hoima to the displacement of over 250 families in Rwamutonga to pave way for a waste treatment facility ,to the wave endless allegations by host communities on land grabbing ,in adequate and unfair compensation across the Albertine region.

The official announcement last year by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) on the much anticipated oil and gas exploration in Moroto –Kadam basin in Karamoja was followed by impressive best practice by MEMD of carrying out sensitization amongst the oil exploration communities in Moroto-Kadam basin. This announcement created a lot of positive and negative expectations amongst communities in Karamoja with the biggest fear being land rights violations considering that the land tenure system in Karamoja is communal and is susceptible to land rights abuses. One Karamajong elder at a recent dialogue alluded to one of the questions raised by an elder at the sensitization meetings who said that “we have not been able to see the economic from minerals like these rocks that we can see, those that don’t lie beneath the surface like marble and limestone but they have been continuously exploited without tangible benefits for the community what about oil that you cannot even see?

Considering that Uganda has treaded the road of oil and gas exploration since 2006 the Karamajong communities and Ugandans at large expect well-coordinated oil exploration activities that are cognizant with the rights and benefits of host communities on the premise that the government has learnt valuable lessons ,better practices which are further reinforced by the presence of the legal and regulatory framework that was absent in 2006 specifically oil and gas policy 2008, the petroleum exploration, development and production act 2013 ,the Public Finance and Management Act and the Land Policy 2013 that speaks to some of the key questions relating to land rights.

The question now remains if the Moroto Kadam host communities are ready for oil exploration. Do they understand their rights? Do the local governments understand their roles and responsibilities in these oil exploration processes? Are the District land boards of the districts within the Moroto Kadam basin functional and do they have the capacity to address any land related issues that may arise? Answering these questions will address some of the impending challenges that could arise from exploration

Ultimately communities expect that any land acquisition for large infrastructure projects within the region should respect the indigenous livelihoods and rights of communities to land by facilitating fair, prompt and adequate compensation processes. Communities further need access to timely information to enable them participate effectively in oil sector decision making processes that directly affect them. It’s through access to timely transparent information that mistrust issues within different stakeholder groups that have ensued in the Albertine region over the last 14 years can be avoided.

On the other hand protection of the critical ecosystems in Karamoja during exploration should be put at the forefront by ensuring that best practices from oil exploration in the Albertine are also translated in Karamoja region to avoid biodiversity loss and promote environmental integrity.

Moving forward with the extensive extractive resources across Karamoja and Uganda as a whole the transparency and accountability mechanisms could further be strengthened by the Uganda joining the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)

What economic promise would the discovery of oil offer Karamoja?

 By Phillo Aryatwijuka

The recent launch of oil exploration activities in the Moroto-Kadam basin by the government has raised expectations on the possible discovery of oil in Karamoja region, a region that has been looming in conflict and poverty for many decades.

For Karamoja oil exploration activities are coming at a time when the key legal framework is in place particularly the oil and gas policy 2008, the petroleum exploration, development and production act 2013 and the Public Finance and Management Act.   

Impressive to note was that the government kick started with some of the best practices in the extractives sector; the massive sensitization of communities in the Moroto-Kadam basin on the planned activities which is in line with Objective 7 of the National Oil and Gas Policy that recommends ensuring optimum national participation in oil and gas activities

The recent news report on the launch of oil exploration activities quotes the energy state minister Peter Lokeris saying “that once oil is discovered in this area we shall be the envy of other areas. We shall have investments and services here”

The reality in achieving this is far from easy taking lessons from some of the challenges encountered in the exploration activities from Uganda’s Albertine region. Is the Albertine region envy to other regions in Uganda since oil discovery? In my opinion it’s not! The challenges brought about oil discovery in the Albertine now range from inadequate and unfair compensation, non-resettlement claims ,  land grabbing, abuse of human rights among others

How then can government use lessons learnt from the Albertine to deliver the economic promises that the possible discovery of oil could bring for a region? A region with a population of just 1.2M people and 74.2 percent of this population living below the poverty line!  

Ultimately the issue of respect of land rights of Karamojong communities should be put at the forefront during exploration. Land for Karamojong communities and everywhere in Uganda is a main source of capital and livelihood. For the Karamoja a large portion of land is entrusted in communal land holding. Considering the large based land acquisitions oil exploration activities require community consultations, permissions and fair and adequate compensation should be taken as critical issues throughout the whole process. Karamoja has overtime experienced the abuse of land rights in the extractives sector particularly in large scale land acquisitions by mining companies and this vulnerability could be worsened by the proposed amendment of article 26 of the constitution.

On the other hand the exploration area of Kadam-Moroto basin stretches within a fragile ecosystem where we have the Pian-Upe game reserve home to wildlife and unique flora and fauna. In appreciation of this oil exploration activities should be cognizant with the protection of wildlife.

Moving forward Uganda has already treaded the road of oil discovery in the Albertine region that has been marred by abuse of human rights and Ugandans particularly the Karamojong communities expect better this time.

LET’S INTENSIFY EFFORTS TO SAVE OUR WETLANDS

https://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Letters/Intensify-efforts-save-wetlands/806314-4322084-dg17sr/index.html 

By Phillo Aryatwijuka, 

 LET’S INTENSIFY EFFORTS TO SAVE OUR WETLANDS

Last month as I was travelling along Masaka road I could not help but notice some of the changes on one of the big swamps as compared to ten years ago when I used the same road. While trying to share this with a friend I was travelling with he was quick to note “what’s with all this fuss about the swamp? China is one of the biggest growing economies, do they care about swamps? On the contrary they don’t!”

Considering that 80% of the population is dependent on agriculture and Uganda being an agricultural driven economy, natural resources like wetlands offers immense values and functions. These values and functions have been on several occasions reiterated by the President of Uganda who consistently sent out strong and clear messages in on the protection and sustainable use of wetlands during his several visits across the country notably at Kanyamatambara Village of Kyangyenyi Sub- County in Sheema district, Rushoroza Seed School in Kihihi and during his address to the congregation attending Easter Sunday church service at St. Matthew Cathedral, Kyamate in Ntungamo district last year.

According to the report of the state house media center April 2017, The President during his address to the congregation at St. Matthew Cathedral, Kyamate affirmed that “Wetlands are water reservoirs. They must be conserved. Any encroachment on wetlands is disastrous. If wetlands are drained, where shall farmers access water for irrigation? How can one light fire in a granary?” he queried. Without doubt the president’s message clearly reflects to our wetlands, our life!

It should be noted that since 1994 to date Ugandan Wetlands have been disappearing at an alarming rate mostly attributed to human factors; population and urbanization being on the rise thus encroachment for agriculture, human settlements among others as highlighted in the Uganda Wetlands Atlas Volume two launched February Last year by the Ministry of Water and Environment in collaboration with UNEP which highlighted that wetland resources are 11% of the total land area

The question now is how then we can help our greater communities to understand the value of wetlands most importantly that they are not being chased from using wetlands but rather encouraged to use wetlands sustainably while appreciating their special roles in ensuring water quality, flood control as well as their roles in enhancing resilience of communities to climate change.

On the other hand how do we deal with private sector investments that encroach on wetlands? The private sector has overtime taken advantage of these ecosystem services and sometimes misused them at an expense of other Ugandans. If we are to save our wetlands we need to expedite the process of cancelling all the titles in our wetlands and stop any title issuance. Communities have overtime complained that the government chases the “small fish” while leaving the “big fish” to enjoy the water alone.

Currently the ongoing review of the 23 year old Uganda National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources 1995 and the draft Bill by the Ministry of Water and Environment in collaboration with Partners for Resilience through the Integrated Risk Management (IRM) Wetlands Project provides Uganda and Ugandans a timely opportunity to come up with a comprehensive legislative framework and strategies that addresses key emerging issues that contribute to the degradation of this resource.

WHO IS TO BLAME FOR MINING COMPANIES MISCONDUCT IN KARAMOJA

 

https://chimpreports.com/opinion-who-is-to-blame-for-mining-companies-misconduct-in-karamoja/

By Aryatwijuka Phillo, 

The recent allegations on the failure by DAO Marble Africa Limited a mining company in Rupa Sub County in Moroto District over failure to pay over twenty employee salaries is an early eye opener for the budding Karamoja’s mining sector investments considering that over 64% of land in Karamoja is already under concessions . The prospect of conducting an airborne geophysical survey is likely to make the region more lucrative for mining investments consequently bringing more mining companies in the region.

The question now remains how the government is prepared to ensure that these mining companies respect human rights, environmental rights and community rights at large.

At the recent Karamoja Mining Symposium Civil Society Organizations working on mining governance in Karamoja presented a civil society position with one of their key concerns being the lack of a clear framework for engaging private sector companies in the mining sector in Karamoja. This concern was grounded in the various issues already expressed by mining communities in Karamoja citing the general lack of involvement of communities in different processes of licensing and acquisition of mining concessions by mining companies despite indigenous communities’ rights on participation and decision making.  

Overtime communities in Rupa have been disgruntled citing that three years ago when DAO marble Africa Limited acquired a mining lease their expectations on the investment were high with the hope that they will benefit from the employment opportunities, infrastructure development, revenues, increased royalties and other benefits that accrue from such a big investment in their region

It’s now three years of DAO Marble Africa Limited in Rupa Sub County and these allegations are setting a precedent of a mining company that has not lived up to its expectations by abusing the rights of people and host communities.

How else can we not call the failure of DAO to honor its salary obligations it owes to its workers a human rights abuse? Host communities are left wondering if these mining investments are worth the cost of destruction of their land and environment that is a source of their livelihood by huge excavations done by these mining companies.

Ultimately host communities feel letdown by the government and as such in need of urgent action. Now that DAO Marble Africa Limited top management have disappeared from the site as alleged, who will pay the unpaid wages for these workers? Which compliance mechanisms will the government put in place to ensure that in future mining companies’ employees’ rights are respected?

Looking back the recent Karamoja Mining Symposium envisioned a mining sector in Karamoja that is sustainable and as part of the recommendations to achieve that the CSO actors were emphatic on the urgent need to prioritize the amendment of the current legal and regulatory framework mainly the mineral policy 2001,the mining act 2003.These should clearly streamline the framework for community engagement with the mining companies, strictly put in place regulations to monitor compliance of these companies to community rights, environment protection standards and compliance to tax.

In that way the government will enhance the development of a sustainable mining sector in Karamoja sub region