The Minister of Energy and Mineral development Ruth Nankabirwa and State Minister for Minerals Peter Lokeris intervened in a payment dispute between artisanal miners in Rubanda District and a mining company owned by Rubanda West Member of Parliament Moses Kamuntu Mwongyera.
The meeting between Miners and MP Kamuntu was held at Rwaara Village, Hamurwa town council in Rubanda district. It was chaired by Minister Nankabirwa. Artisanal Miners under the their association- Kigezi Iron Ore Artisanal Miners were led by Dr. Narisis Kabaterine.
The miners claim that Kamuntu Investments Ltd. had not paid them Shs3b after supplying it with iron ore, which is ferried to steel factories in Kampala, Jinja and Kenya. They also claim that several cases had been reported to courts of law.
They also informed the Minister about the association and demanded to have a mining license to break Kamuntu’s monopoly.
MP Kamuntu refuted the allegations terming them baseless and “stage managed.” He requested for transfer of Iron Ore Mining license from Hamurwa to Muko Sub-county in Rubanda District where he has 200 acres of land, in attempt to end his conflicts with Artisanal Miners.
However, Minister Nankabirwa said, there is need to first investigate and find the truth of the matter on how the procedure of payments were conducted. She promised to issue Mining license to the association but also expressed a need by the association to first have a geologist.
The Minister of State for trade industry and Cooperatives, David Bahati said that Kigezi Sub-region has 312 million tones of Iron Ore that need to be exploited harmoniously such that people can benefit from it.
He challenged Artisanal Miners to unite and reconcile with one another if they are to Utilise such Minerals. On the legal part, Wilfred Nuwagaba, the Ndorwa East County Member of Parliament advised Miners to register their land and get titles to avoid land conflicts.
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