By Ludger Kasumuni

Dar es Salaam — Transporters are now demanding to be refunded over Sh900 million by Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (Ticts) after the government barred the firm from charging scanning fees on transit cargo.

A board member of the Tanzania Trucks Owners Association (Tatoa), Mr Rahim Dossa, said yesterday that transporters would file fresh requests with the Surface and Marine Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) for refund of fees charged by Ticts for two weeks.

However, Ticts ruled out the possibility of transporters being refunded, with a top official of the cargo handling firm saying they levied the charges following a directive by the authorities.

Ticts chief executive Jered Zerbe told The Citizen that the charges were imposed after a directive by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

Mr Dossa, on the other hand, said Tatoa members had in two weeks paid Ticts hundreds of millions of shillings in container scanning fees.

Transporters paid an average of $30,000 (Sh65.3 million) daily, meaning that importers and exporters of transit cargo paid a total of about $420,000 (Sh915.6 million) in a fortnight.

“We are now processing fresh complaints that we will lodge with Sumatra. We are demanding that Ticts refund money paid as scanning fees, which have now been scrapped.

“The fees were illegal because they had not been approved by Sumatra. They also did not impose the charges in accordance with existing regulations,” Mr Dossa said.

The Vice President of the Tanzania Association of Transporters (TAT), Mr Omari Kiponza, also supported demands for a refund, saying the fees were illegal.

Reached for comment, Sumatra director general Gerald Ngewe said yesterday that the regulator was ready to hear fresh complaints about the fees charged by Ticts.

“During our meeting last Saturday we did not discuss the issue, but we are ready to discuss it once we receive official complaints,” he said.

For his part, Mr Zerbe said: “We are happy that, based on meetings on December 24, Sumatra and TRA have accepted the proposal hence transit and import containers will not be subjected to any TRA verification/intervention fees. The cargo will be scanned using exiting Port Gates hence there will be no additional charges applicable.”

On Monday, the government, through Sumatra, ordered Ticts to stop charging scanning fees on transit goods passing through Dar es Salaam Port.

Mr Ngewe told The Citizen on Monday that the regulator held an emergency meeting on Saturday during which a decision was made to scrap extra fees charged by Ticts on transit goods.

“In my capacity as head of the regulatory authority, I issued a directive that the extra charges be stopped.”

Mr Dossa said the meeting was attended by all stakeholders, including Ticts, Tatoa, Tanzania Association of Transporters, Taffa, TRA and Tanzania Harbours Authority.

He added that Sumatra resolved that containers should not go through scanning at an early stage of loading cargo at the port, but at the exit stage, which does not require payment of extra charges.

Mr Zerbe told The Citizen that they had agreed with the directive because the scanning of transit goods was done at the exit stage.

He said Ticts imposed the fees in response to a directive issued by TRA that all inbound and outbound containers be scanned before exit.

On Saturday, The Citizen carried an exclusive story revealing the new port charges and the concern they had raised among transporters and transit cargo importers.

Those who opposed the fees argued they increased the cost of doing business due to multiple taxes being charged on the same cargo.

Imperial Bank’s large depositors will now access some of their savings locked in the troubled lender from Wednesday.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK’s) receiver manager, the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), said Wednesday that all depositors will get up to a maximum of 10 per cent of their deposits.

Those with less than Ksh200,000 ($2,000) in savings will be paid in full while depositors with more will get a maximum of 10 per cent of their deposits.

“Verified depositors will be able to access these funds through NIC Bank as was the case for the second disbursement in July 2016. Any new claims should be lodged and processed through NIC Bank,” KDIC said in a statement.

Imperial Bank was placed under receivership on October 13, 2015, collapsing with a total of Ksh87 billion ($850 million) of depositors money, largely due to irregularities and malpractices which exposed depositors, creditors and the banking sector to financial risk.

ANALYSISBy Lominda Afedraru

Beans are a widely grown crop in Uganda and a key source of protein in many diets. Though they are mostly cooked, innovative ways of preparation are being explored in research and development.

One of these is as bean flour, which can be mixed with wheat to make confectionaries or mixed with millet flour to make porridge. Some process it as snacks and bean fingers, which are packaged as ready-to-eat meals.

Accordingly, scientists at National Crops Resources Research Institute(NaCRRI), in collaboration with their counterparts in Kenya, are undertaking a project in this regard. They have bred bean varieties containing iron and zinc, which will be processed as pre-cooked beans and sold in open markets in East Africa.

“Unprocessed dry beans, a traditional subsistence crop in East Africa are popular and nutritious but slow cooking food. In recent years, the rapid expansion of urban populations, rising incomes, and high costs of energy have fuelled the demand for fast cooking, processed foods,” said Dr Michael Ugen, the director of National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI), where pulse breeding is a key activity.

He was speaking at a recent event to mark the International Year of Pulses, which was declared by the United Nations, as 2016.

He added, “Canned or frozen beans are sometimes available, but are only affordable to a minority. Developing affordable bean products is therefore increasingly important.”

Therefore, pre-cooked beans and similar innovations will lead to improving food security, raise farmer incomes and conserve the environment in terms of saving energy.

Developing a viable pre-cooked bean industry requires reliable production of the appropriate beans, effective marketing, and competitive products.

This year, NaCRRI released five iron- and zinc-rich varieties: NAROBEAN 1, 2 and 3–which are bush beans–and 4C and 5C–which are climbing beans.

These are being grown by farmers mainly in Masaka who have been identfied as key suppliers for the factory that will process precooked beans.

Since there is ready market, a seed company in Rakai has organised farmers to grow the required quantity.

“Pulses are not only human food but used as feed for livestock. Adding value to pulses helps farmers increase their incomes,” noted Alhaji Jallow, FAO country representative.

While the NaCRRI director, Dr Geoffrey Asea, pointed out that pulse products help in solving issues of malnutrition due to the nutrient content; mainly protein, zinc and iron, which are important for the human body.

How it works

Some cook wet beans, which are later dried for processing but the incoming innovation will enable the beans to be pre-processed and cooked under high temperature and pressure.

The result will be dry processed pre-cooked beans as the technology enables cooking of the beans while at the same time drying them.

It will be packaged in airtight weather-proof aluminum sachets that can preserve the product for more than six months.

The product can also be packed in plastic containers or bags of varying sizes and be stored for more than a year.

Two private-sector partners–one in Uganda and the other in Kenya–have developed prototype products and are packaging them for market testing.

In Kenya, the product is already on the open market and for the case of Uganda, they will be readily available by early next year.

So far, two bean products are available in the Kenyan market, the salted ready-to-eat snack and the pre-cooked, packaged beans for reheating.

Algeria’s bluefin tuna quota for 2017 has been brought up to 1,046 tonnes, from 546 tonnes before, by the Internation Commission on Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a source from the ministry of Agriculture told APS.

After laborious negotiations by the Algerian delegation during the ICCAT meeting held last November in Vilamoura, Portugal, the world organization approved an increase by 500 tonnes of Algeria’s 2017 quota, rising thus from 546 tonnes to 1.046 tonnes, said the general coordinator for fishing and aquaculture at the ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishing, Tahar Hammouche.

In 2014’s ICCAT meeting in Genoa, Italy, during which a fishing quota plan (until 2017) was developed, Algeria had benefitted of a gradual increase set at 243 tonnes for 2014, 370 tonnes for 2015, 460 tonnes for 2016 and 546 tonnes for 2017.

By Abu Najakku

Kebbi is in the news again but this time it is not the story of mass failure in school certificate examination, neither is it about placing last in the national sports festival. It is positive news. It is about the advent in the Lagos mass market of one of the newest brands of the outgoing year popularly known as the Lake Rice.

Notwithstanding the imported brands they have always craved for, I am sure that Lagosians will enjoy the taste of the Lake Rice. Lagos is a ready market for almost every grain of rice that Kebbi can produce. There is no doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government will be well pleased with the Lake Rice as a brilliant example of how to produce at home what we need and steer clear of imported food. We may import tractors but certainly, we have no reason to continue to buy foreign rice, considering that God has endowed us with such fertile land. From time immemorial, rice has been cultivated in the Fadama located all the way from Argungu to Yauri. The Fadama is the black muddy soil that occurs mostly at the bank of the tributaries of River Niger and very suitable for the cultivation of rice.

Lake Rice, contained in attractively branded blue and yellow sacks, has come to be, through the productive memorandum of understanding between Kebbi and Lagos states. Lake Rice is essentially rice cultivated in Kebbi, milled and bagged in Imota, Lagos, for the eating pleasure of consumers in the country’s commercial headquarters. Lake Rice, the stunning end result of the Lagos-Kebbi partnership, reinforces the argument that federal government should place or maintain ban on rice imports. Almost every family in Lagos tasted the Lake Rice this Christmas. It provided good alternative to imported expired rice piled up for several years in foreign warehouses.

Rice has been cultivated in Kebbi for as long as one can remember; actually, until a few years ago, tuwon shinkafa or mashed rice was the commonest dinner among the people. Just about thirty years ago, upon harvest, rice farmers could concede their farmlands to old women (‘yan share) to sweep the residue for their own use. From the dregs alone, the old women were known to have made several bags of rice for themselves. In those days, there was so much rice that fura, a common meal, could be made entirely of the produce. But gradually, the rice farmers abandoned their farms, came to town and began to look for security; gardening and other jobs not only because cropping had become laborious but also because they could no longer afford the inputs. Bakin iri, Bayawure, Dan kyanga, Dan Musa, Jan iri, Mai adda, ‘Yar butuka, ‘Yar kalgawa, etc. were all varieties of the rice farmed in Kebbi.

Nevertheless, indigenes of Kebbi have repeatedly said they are unable to see and purchase Lake Rice in Birnin Kebbi or anywhere around the state. It will appear then that the rice is customised for Lagos citizens only. People need additional information about the Lake rice especially in terms of figures: how many tonnes have been sold in Lagos? What is the worth of the deal and who are the beneficiaries?

People are also demanding to know why the rice cannot be milled in Kebbi and pushed to Lagos ready-made? They also ask: how long will the collaboration last or has the venture come to stay? Is the supply of Lake Rice to Lagos sustainable? What happens to the half a dozen states located between Lagos and Kebbi whose citizens also yearn for the product?

There is no doubt that the people of Kebbi have hearkened to President Muhammadu Buhari’s call on them to return to the farm and produce, rice, wheat, etc. to help the country eliminate the need to import them. Clearly, the country has a huge appetite for these commodities.

But thanks to the anchor borrowers’ programme launched by the President in Birnin Kebbi in November 2015, many people have earnestly returned to the farm. Stories abound in Kebbi now of how former thugs and professional beggars have successfully farmed rice and made money for themselves. The anchor borrowers’ programme targets small and medium sized farmers who are normally given fertiliser, improved seeds, water pumps and farming advice by agricultural extension workers. They are also given small amount of money to service the water pumps and settle some incidentals. With the President’s promise to devote more money to agriculture in the 2017 budget, there is every possibility that production will at least double.

Whatever it is, Lake Rice has raised the profile and reputation of Kebbi as a serious rice producing state. The Lagos-Kebbi food production and supply template could be a model for other states to emulate and improve the economic wellbeing of their citizens. It is a big plus for the agricultural revolution that the All Progressives government at the centre wants to unleash. If the Lake Rice venture succeeds, it will validate the President’s declaration that we shall soon come out of recession and also diversify our economy using agriculture. More so, at the end of every harvest, new lessons will have been learnt about how to correct the observed lapses and maximise production.

The President is so elated with the Lake Rice phenomenon that he was quoted as saying “what the two states (Lagos and Kebbi) have done is evidence of a new base being laid for the Nigerian economy, founded and propelled by agriculture, away from substantial dependence on oil and gas for national revenue.”

The Lake Rice enterprise is an exciting and flamboyant demonstration of how production meets consumption and the credit goes to Governors Atiku Bagudu and Ambode Akinwumi and their people.

By Sydney Kawadza

Trade volumes between Zimbabwe and China are set to go beyond the $1 billion mark by year-end. China imports tobacco, cotton and various minerals from Zimbabwe while local businesses have turned to the East Asian economic giant for electronic, clothing and other finished products. Speaking on the sidelines of a handover of various educational materialand equipment by Tian Ze China Tobacco Company to Dunnoly Primary School in Beatrice yesterday, Chinese Economic and Commercial Consular Mr Li Yauhui said trade between the two countries continues to firm.

“Trade volumes between Zimbabwe and China had reached about $948 million as of September this year and we expect it to have surpassed the $1 billion mark by the end of the year,” he said.

Mr Li said the export-import balance still favoured the Chinese as more goods, especially tobacco, were being exported to the East. Zimbabwe exports at least 55 percent of its tobacco to China.

Addressing guests at the handover ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mr Huang Ping, hailed the Tian Ze China Tobacco Company for ploughing back into communities that support their business.

“Your corporate social responsibility activities show that you are not in Zimbabwe for profit making only but also to help in the economic development of Zimbabwe,” he said. He urged Chinese companies operating in Zimbabwe to assist in the development of communities.

“I am going to mobilise more Chinese companies to plough back into the communities as an appreciation of the economic partnership we enjoy as the two countries.” Tobacco Industry Marketing Board chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said tobacco exports to China had surpassed the $1.5 billion since Tian Ze joined the Zimbabwean market.

“Tian Ze started operating in Zimbabwe in 2004 and the company has significantly and importantly altered the tobacco industry in the country. “Zimbabwean tobacco farmers export between 50 to 60 percent of their produce to China providing a ready market,” he said.

Tian Ze managing director Mr Ye Hai said his company’s participation in the tobacco industry has brought positive results to the farmers and Zimbabwe at large. “As some of you might be aware, Tian Ze Tobacco Company supports sustainable agriculture in Zimbabwe and plays a part in the promotion of the mutual friendship that exist between Zimbabwe and China,” he said.

Besides offering the best and most viable pricing model, Tian Ze also provides interest free loans, free technical support, training and service to contract farmers so that they improve on tobacco production.

By Kunle Olasanmi

Former attorney-geneeral of the Federation andd minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, yesterday, said he accted within the law in the $1.1billion Malabu oil deal.

The Economic andd Financial Crimes Commission has filed charges against Adoke and others, accusing them of fraud in the Malabu deal.

In his reacctiion to the 9-count charge yesterday, Addoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria said the charge filed against him was intended to bring his name to disrepute.

Adoke said, “The charge of aiding the commission of money laundering offences preferred against me has finally confirmed the orchestrated plans to bring me to public disrepute in order to satisfy the whims and caprices of some powerful interests on revenge mission.

“I wish to reiterate that I acted within the actual and ostensible authority of the Office I occupied to broker a settlement between Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited in order to ward off the over US$2 Billion Dollars liability in damages for reach of contract which the country would have been exposed to in the likely event of the success of Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited’s claim before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).”

“The Terms of Settlement ensured that the interests of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Malabu Oil & Gas Limited and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited were duly acknowledged and provided for in the Settlement Agreement.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria was entitled to the Signature bonus which was duly paid; Malabu Oil & Gas Limited surrendered its title to OPL 245 for a consideration and Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited was re-allocated OPL 245 which its had previously substantially de-risked in consideration for withdrawing their over US$ 2 Billion Dollars claim for breach of contract against the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Since the Parties aforementioned, faithfully discharged their respective obligations under the Settlement Agreement, one cannot comprehend how the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation which brokered the Settlement was expected to renege from the agreement by denying Malabu Oil & Gas Limited the benefits associated with the relinquishing of their title to OPL 245 already warehoused in a joint FGN/Shell Escrow account, or to prevent the subsequent re-allocation of the relinquished OPL 245 to Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited when the company had already furnished consideration for it to the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

Dar es Salaam — Acacia Mining has complied with the Mining Act of 2010 by placing $41 million rehabilitation bonds for all its mines.

The bonds have been facilitated by Metropolitan Tanzania Insurance Company Limited for Bulyanhulu, Buzwagi and North Mara.

The Mining Act of 2010 requires all middle and large scale mining companies to have their closure plans in place and approved by the National Closure Mining Committee.

Energy and Minerals minister Sospeter Muhongo signed the pact with Acacia’s vice president for corporate affairs, Mr Deo Mwanyika, recently. Acacia becomes the first mining company in the country to comply with the Mining Act of 2010 with respect to placing the rehabilitation bonds.

The firm promised to continue complying with the regulatory requirements in the sector. The committee is composed of representatives from three ministries: those of Energy and Minerals, Tourism and Natural Resources as well as Water and Irrigation.

Other representatives are drawn from the National Land Use Planning Commission as well regional and district authorities.

ANALYSISBy Mark Keith Muhumuza

April 30, 1975, marked the end of the Vietnam War and humiliation for Americans. This was the same day Saigon City, the capital of then South Vietnam was taken over by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese army. The war had been ongoing since 1955, but with the fall of Saigon, the Americans had to retreat in humiliation. Saigon has since changed its name to Ho Chi Minh City, popular with tourists that visit Vietnam. However, somewhere in Lubaali-Kayonza, Kitumbi Sub-County, Mubende District is an illegal mining settlement named after Saigon City.

Mubende’s ‘Saigon City’ does not have the hallmarks of the city it is named after. It is dominated by tinned roofed houses, shacks. It is midday on a Thursday. People can be seen sipping on an occasional beer. However, this is only in a section of the 200 square kilometres where these tinned roofs in the valley can be seen. Uphill, there is a brown colouring that is visible from a distance. There is also the noise of something like a stone crusher, blaring generators, hammers hitting stones and men who look like the colour of earth. People descended on this piece of land almost seven ago after it was mentioned that there is gold in the area. This marked the influx of people who came to join in the Gold rush. All over Mubende District, there are about eight illegal mining settlements with about 8,000 people.

Under Ugandan law, the mining they carry out is considered illegal. Some, however, refer to them as artisanal miners. The estimates point to about 20,000 artisanal miners in Uganda. In Mubende, they are all involved in the mining of gold. It is an entirely informal economy valued at billions of shillings that is largely untaxed and an unregulated market.

“It is a money economy here and we depend on the miners to make money. There is no agriculture here. It is all mining. Without the mining, I would be out of business. The miners like to drink a lot of alcohol. We offer them that service,” narrates Mr Innocent Sabiti, the only beer and soda depot owner based in Saigon City.

He is originally from Kanungu District, hundreds of kilometres away from Mubende. His plan was not to carry out mining but rather to provide services that miners may need. Within illegal mining settlements, there will always be people that carry out value-added services. This ranges from shopkeepers, welders, casual workers, gold buyers, mechanics and mobile money operators, among others.

Illegals or not?URA

In February 2016, an exploration licence belonging to Gemstone Resources expired and the licence holder under the law can apply for renewal. However, other mining companies can also apply for the same licence. Miners under the Namulanda Artisanal Mining Association and Ssingo Artisanal Miners Association (SAMA) applied for a location licence (only meant for small-scale miners) on the 207.3747 square kilometres of the land. Their licence is still under consideration. The applicants under SAMA is a group of illegal miners that had been mining for gold for almost seven years and have been at loggerheads with Gemstone Mining Company. In most instances, they prefer not be called illegal miners but rather artisanal miners.

“We are artisanal miners. Unlike the licence holder (Gemstone), we have actually been mining gold. The licence holder has only been seating and speculating on the land without doing any work,” narrates Mr Emmanuel Kibirige, the executive director of the SAMA. Mr Kibirige and members of the association took over a section of the Gemstone licence and started mining gold. It is on the premise of this that they are referred to as illegals.

“Anyone who violates the law is doing something illegal. That makes them illegal. What these people do is to invade a license of a company and then start mining,” explains Mr Denis Kusasira, a partner at ABMAK Associates, a law firm with expertise in mining in Uganda.

He insists that artisanal miners are people within the community that “scratch” the surface of the land trying to find minerals. These people are often locals within a community. However, what is visible in Mubende is an influx of people from around the country and foreigners, all prospecting for gold.

In ‘Saigon City,’ Mr Bassa Nyansio who is considered a mayor in the area reveals that they have a large population of Rwandan nationals that are carrying out mining activities. This is indeed true as several Rwandan nationals are currently involved in the rudimentary mining. Several shops in the area also provide mobile money services inclined to Rwanda that can be used to send money back home. There are also some Congolese on these mines. Notably, Tanzanians and Chinese are also involved in processing Gold from the tailings picked by the artisanal miners. It is premised on this that some officials within the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) argue that what is currently ongoing in Mubende is illegal mining.

A myriad of problems

Illegal mining currently takes place on less than 20 per cent of the licensed area of land in Uganda, leaving 80 per cent that can attract investment. “There are so many other factors that are to blame for the significantly low investment in the mining sector,” says Mr Don Binyina, the executive director of the African Centre for Energy and Mineral Policy.

“There is speculation in Uganda with several companies holding up to 900 licences. Some of them – if not most – are not operational. How deep are the pockets of the individuals involved? Can they actually carry out any work like exploring for gold? Speculation would not be a big problem but Uganda has a lot passive speculation. This is because the first-come-first serve provision in the law doesn’t require proven technical and financial capacity by applicants,” he explains.

According to DGSM, several companies also do not submit returns on the exploration work they have carried out. Additionally, areas that are licensed for exploration work to determine the mineral deposits are actually parceled out actual mining activity. For instance, a company called Optima Mines is carrying out mining of gold on a licence meant for exploration work. The company has invested in excess of $2m on facilities used in the processing of gold. Even more troubling, DGSM that is supposed to carry out licensing and regulation of the sector is largely underfunded to do adequate monitoring of what is going on in these mines.

During the mining conference, Mr Edwards Katto, the commissioner of DGSM, noted that in order to attract investment in the sector, Uganda has to set up an exploration company that would do most of the exploration data and sell that data to prospective investors.

“This department will be responsible for appraising the known mineral potential such that when investors come, they find basic information rather than spending money and most of the work has been done. They will find well-cooked food available and for them, they should start going into mining,” he says.

On this basis, President Museveni revealed plans by the government to set-up an exploration company to de-risk Uganda’s mining potential.

“Therefore, on the issue of minerals, that is what we have decided to do. Go back to 1986 and say look here, let us do the thing (exploration) ourselves,” he said.

The estimation by UCMP is that investment of Shs340b in exploration has the potential to attract millions of shillings in the sector. However, that does not solve the other issues around the mining sector.

Stalling investment?

Uganda hosts its largest mining conference every October. The Mineral Wealth Conference, as it is called, attracts investors from around the world with the aim of presenting opportunities in the mining sector. One of the most talked about subjects at this year’s conference was the artisanal miners that were being accused of stalling investment opportunities.

“Companies want to come into the country and invest. When they get to know that an area to be explored is being occupied by illegal miners, they will consider that a risk. If I have a mining lease, how will I attract investment if the illegal miner is on the land?” explains Mr Elly Karuhanga, the chairperson of Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.

Uganda has been unable to attract significant investment from global markets in the mining sector with exception of limestone, marble and copper mines. Hima Cement and Tororo Cement are the largest players in the mining of limestone for Cement production. This year, Dao Marble started mining and production of marble products from Karamoja and Tibet-Hima has a contract to produce copper from Kilembe Mines. There is small-scale mining on-going for minerals like Tin, Wolfram and Gold. Notably, small-scale mining for gold can require investment of about $300,000 (Shs1 billion), a cost considered to be high for some of the people engaged in illegal mining activities.

DEVELOPMENTS IN MINING

Mining law being reviewed

For the last two years, the process to review Uganda’s Mining Act 2003 and Mining Policy 2001 has been ongoing. The consultations for the Draft Mining Policy have been concluded and by 2017, it should be tabled to the Cabinet for approval.
The purpose of the review is to bring the law and policy up-to-date in order to attract investment in the mining sector. Additionally, there will be provisions that would finally define artisanal mining in Uganda and this allows a process on how it can be legalised. More so, the policy also attempts to have a mix of competitive bidding and first come first serve basis in applications for an exploration licence.

Lessons from Rwanda, Tanzania

There is recognition in Tanzania and Rwanda on the role that artisanal and small-scale plays in the mining sector. In both countries, these activities are legal. The understanding is that this kind of mining creates job opportunities. In legalising these activities, the two countries collect royalties and regulate activities of artisanal mining.
In Uganda, there are no clear statistics on how much gold is recovered and sold by artisanal miners.
Additionally, the government loses revenue from royalties because the current artisanal mining activity is unregulated. In regulating this mining, Rwanda and Tanzania are also able to ensure a level health and safety for the artisanal miners. This recognition has not stopped the entry of international investors in the mining sector of Rwanda and Tanzania.

Mining revenue
Mining currently contributes only 0.5 per cent to Gross Domestic Product. However, these are statistics for the formal sector. Informally, the contribution is 3.5 per cent. There are about 200,000 miners around the country, most of them unregulated.

Location licence

A location licence, according to The Mining Act, 2003 section 54 (2), is a licence for prospecting and mining operations by methods which do not involve substantial expenditure and the use of specialised technology.
This is mostly meant for small-scale miners who do not have the capacity to afford high-tech equipment for mining.
“If we secure a licence, we will be able to engage in better and safer mining activities. We have been unable to invest money in improving standards and mining activities because we were unsure about the future,” Mr Emmanuel Kibirige, the general secretary Ssingo Artisanal Gold Miners Association, said.

An illegal gold miner cannot walk into a bank and secure loan, whereas if they had a licence they could secure financing for mine improvement and standards.
AUC Mining, which held the exploration licence, claims it has been unable to carry out any exploration activity on the land because of the influx of illegal miners.
There have been several attempts to evict illegal miners but this has been met with stiff opposition.

The revelations that President Jacob Zuma conspired with Secret Service agencies to establish a rival trade union to the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) in the platinum belt should be seen as the last straw, said former Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.

“If this is true, we have a President who has not just lost the plot, but who has been busy trying to create them,” Vavi said in a statement on Monday.

“For a President to deliberately call together the equivalent of trade union mercenaries and sections of what must be considered probably the most sensitive elements of the state apparatus beggars belief,” he said.

Vavi was responding to claims made in a civil suit brought against Zuma and several government ministers and departments in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

The leaders of a trade union that was allegedly established as a covert intelligence project claimed they received instructions from Zuma to spy on rival trade unions such as Amcu.

Thebe Maswabi, one of the founding members of the Workers Association Union (WAU), a new trade union registered in 2014, is suing Zuma and several government ministers and departments for R114 million. Maswabi has claimed that he’d been instructed to establish the WAU, partly with the assistance of agents from the State Security Agency (SSA).

However, the funding provided by Zuma and the other defendants allegedly stopped, leaving Maswabi in debt.

According to Maswabi’s particulars of claim filed at court, a SSA agent facilitated the first meeting between him and other would-be members of the union and Zuma in September 2013.

The alleged meeting took place at the Union Buildings.

There were a total of four meetings with Zuma throughout September and October 2013, according to court papers.

Undermine Amcu

The alleged meetings were held in the wake of the Marikana massacre in 2012 and in the context of the ongoing violent strikes in the platinum sector.

“The first defendant (Zuma) had indicated that the police, army and intelligence will work hand-in-hand with the plaintiffs (Maswabi and the WAU) to bring stability within the platinum belt for the interest of the national economy,” reads the particulars of claim.

The new union’s mandate seemed to be very much centred on destabilising Amcu.

“To willfully plot and then implement moves deliberately designed to create division amongst workers are the actions of persons who not only undermine their oath of office, but who also undermine South African labour law, and the international conventions it has endorsed on the Freedom of Association and many other matters,” Vavi said.

He said it was clear there were attempts to undermine Amcu, and no expense was spared in doing so.

“The fact that the money promised to the Trade Union Mercenaries dried up and caused the brand new Workers Association Union to then flounder, does not detract from the fact that no 1 was behaving not like an elected President, but like a gangster, using whatever means at his disposal to promote a ‘sweetheart’ union at the expense of the tax payer, including miners in platinum.”

Source: News24