Namayingo, Uganda | URN | Hundreds of artisanal gold miners and former workers of a Chinese-owned mining company in Namayingo District are stranded following the closure of illegal mining sites by the Police Mineral Protection Unit, with some saying they lack money for food and transport back to their home districts.
The affected miners say they were caught off guard when security personnel shut down several mining sites in Buyanga Village, Sigulu Sub-county, last month, leaving them without income. Some former workers of COCO, a Chinese gold mining company that was operating in the area, also claim they were not paid before the closure.
The miners say they had not sold the gold they had extracted by the time the sites were closed, leaving them unable to meet their basic needs or return home. Yasin Kabirango, a casual labourer who worked at COCO, said he had travelled from western Uganda and needed about Shs100,000 to return home but had no money. Kabirango appealed to the government to intervene, saying the closure had left him and other workers struggling to survive.
Moses Mukhwana, another former COCO worker, said the affected miners were surviving on assistance from well-wishers because they could no longer access the mining sites amid a heavy security deployment. He appealed for intervention to address the plight of those who had depended on the mining activities for their livelihoods.
Sadati Odongo, an artisanal miner, said some of those stranded lacked food and money for transport to their home districts. He appealed to the government and well-wishers to help him return home, saying he had little left to sustain himself.
Ngobi Onyango, a resident of Sigulu Island, said the closure had affected many young people, including children who had dropped out of school and travelled to the area in search of gold. He called on the relevant authorities to intervene and help those struggling to return to their communities.
Sharon Akinyi, another artisanal miner who travelled from Busia, said she had gone to Sigulu Island to earn money to pay school fees for her children. She described the closure as a blow to her efforts to provide for her family.
Nixon Jannex, chairperson of the artisanal gold miners, said thousands of people had previously worked at the sites, but about 500 miners remained stranded following the operation. He appealed to authorities to help those without money for transport return to their home districts.
Cephus Wanjala, the Eastern Zonal Commander of the Police Mineral Protection Unit, said the sites in Buyanga were closed because operators were engaging in illegal mining activities. Wanjala advised both the Chinese company and artisanal miners to obtain the required mining licences before resuming operations.
The closure is part of enforcement efforts against unauthorised mineral extraction, although the affected miners say the operation has left them facing immediate financial hardship. The former workers’ claims of unpaid wages and the miners’ appeals for assistance highlight the livelihood challenges facing people who depended on the sites for income.
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