Report Says Miners Not Paying Karamoja Royalties

A report by conducted in April by Ecological Christian Organisation (ECO) and Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA) reveals that minng companies are paying the 3 percent royalty levy to land owners in Karamoja as stipulated in the Mining Act.

"Royalty payments often do not reach landowners and payment problems are compounded by the complex nature of land. There is lack of clarity as to where these payments should go in those cases where mined land is communally owned," Ms Phillo Aryatwijuka, the programme officer ECO, is quoted by Daily Monitor.

Many communities in the region, she said, were not receiving their royalties due to the communal nature of land whose rightful owners could not be verified legally. Communities in areas around Tororo Cement mining Limestone, for instance, have never received their 3 per cent in royalties.

To solve the problem, ECO and UCCA suggested that the communities organise themselves in groups to acquire communal land titles.

Artisanal and Small scale mining in Karamoja is one of the biggest economic activities in the region employing 20,000 miners with 54,000 direct and induced labourers. A total of 432,000 people in households depend on incomes from ASM.