Mining and mineral sector: Lack of transparency worries minister

The State Minister for Energy, Mr Sidronius Opolot Okasai, has raised the red flag over the lack of transparency and accountability among companies in mining and mineral extraction.

Addressing representatives of the companies during a dialogue in Kampala yesterday, Mr Opolot said the persistence of the above challenges has led to under-collection of taxes which in turn affects inclusive national development.

“Because of selfishness, corruption came in, and we actually lost the objective of getting taxes and royalties paid as people maximise their selfish benefits,” the minister said.

He added: “We are asking ourselves [government and companies] to find a way of getting out of it. All of us should become rich [from the benefits accruing from exploitation of natural resources].”

This follows a May report by the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, that the country lost Shs600 billion in uncollected tax from the export of gold products since 2021.

The Minister for Energy and Mineral Development, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, told Parliament then that “from the information provided by Uganda Revenue Authority, only two companies are willing to pay the tax”.

Yesterday’s dialogue, which attracted miners from across the country, was organised by Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE).

The event was an enabler for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) secretariat to engage with Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum (UCMP), which constitutes parts of the private sector. EITI is a global initiative aiming at good governance of mining and mineral resources.

Mr Onesimus Mugenyi, who represented ACODE at the dialogue, said it was part of the continuous engagement to ensure there is harmonisation of data, consultation and openness in the way the mining and mineral industry is being developed to ensure there is sustainable and inclusive national development.

“EITI ensures there is openness in the way revenue is being collected and utilised for the benefit of citizens in this country,” he said.

Mr Saul Ongaria, the national coordinator of EITI based at the Finance Ministry, said the amount of revenue contributions from the mineral and mining industry through taxes and royalties are still wanting.

“When you look at the revenues, you see that the mining and mineral sector contributed over Shs180 billion, while the mining sector contributed slightly over Shs60 billion. Revenues are coming from taxes that have been paid by these companies and also the royalties paid by different mining companies,” he told Daily Monitor yesterday.

“But it is also important for the government to be transparent enough to report on how much revenue they are receiving from these companies to ensure we all keep track of what we benefit or aim to achieve,” he added.

Mr Humphrey Asiimwe, the chief executive officer of UCMP, said they have taken note of the concerns and promised to ensure there is transparency among their members.

“Uganda became a signatory to the EITI in 2019 and since then, we are committed to making sure that everything we do in the mining and mineral sector and mineral sector is done in a transparent, accountable and integral way because we only have one country --Uganda,” he said.

He added: “We want to be able to develop this country with the resources God gave us and put under the ground in the form of minerals.”