the 2003 Act, which has become ‘obsolete’ and ‘inadequate’ in protecting and streamlining the mining sector of Uganda. The new Mining and Minerals Bill seeks to address matters unattended by the current law, by promoting transparency and organising, licensing and regulating mining operations in order to create an enabling environment that will attract investments, among others.
“Uganda is endowed with natural resources including valuable minerals such as copper, gold, iron ore and others, however, the sub sector continues to face challenges of low funding, institutional capacity to manage mineral resources, complex nature of artisanal and small scale mining, conflicts and environmental degradation despite the existing laws,” Minister Lokeris said.
One of the critical improvements under the new law, once enacted, will be the expansion of state participation, allowing the government to own shares in private mining operations and to impose steep penalties for any violations in the industry. The penalties set out in the bill include fines of up to 1 billion shillings ($278,164.12) and prison terms of up to seven years for those found guilty of any violations. Moreover, the draft law also requires investors to enter into production sharing agreements (PSAs) with the government, a major improvement from the previous regulations where companies were able to apply and be granted mining licences on their own.
