Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-gmt7q Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-12T12:45:53.814Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Artisanal Gold Mining in Uganda: Towards Formalization as Remediation of Dignity and Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2025

By
Julius Kaka
Edited by
Peter Stoett  and
Delon Omrow
Peter Stoett
Affiliation:
Ontario Tech University
Delon Omrow
Affiliation:
Ontario Tech University
Get access

Summary

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining offers opportunities to a diverse set of actors operating in formal, legal and clandestine realms. The sector has considerable expansion potential but it is hampered by corruption, illegal actors and a poorly regulated market. This chapter focuses on Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners (ASM) in Uganda, exploring ongoing tensions between ASM communities, mining firms, and the government. While enforcing health and safety laws in the extractive industry has proven challenging to departments responsible for worker health and safety, the government in Uganda is trying to establish a structured approach with detailed legal and technical collaboration between artisanal miners and technical people whose obligation is to offer legal and technical guidance in regulating ASM.

Keywords

UgandaArtisanal and Small-Scale Miners (ASM)mercuryillegal mininglabor-abusehyper-exploitation
Type
Chapter
Information
Ecoviolence Studies
Human Exploitation and Environmental Crime
 , pp. 101 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bank of Uganda. (2020). 2020 Statistical Abstract. Kampala. https://www.bou.or.ug/bouwebsite/bouwebsitecontent/publications/Statistical_Abstract/2020/2020-Bank-of-Uganda-Statistical-Abstract.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Bank of Uganda. (2021). 2021 Statistical Abstract. https://www.bou.or.ug/bouwebsite/bouwebsitecontent/publications/Statistical_Abstract/2021/2021-Bank-of-Uganda-Statistical-Abstract.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Chebet, L. (2020, February 18). Chairperson Gender Desk, Karamoja Artisanal Miners Association. (G.-T. Researcher, Interviewer).Google Scholar
De Soto, H. (2001). Dead capital and the poor. SAIS Review, 21(1), 13‒44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Soto, H. & Diaz., H. P. (2002). The mystery of capital. Why capitalism triumphs in the west and fails everywhere else. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 27(53), 172.Google Scholar
Geenen, S. (2020). Snapshots of Global Gold Mining . Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hilson, G. (2020). Formalization bubbles: a blueprint for sustainable artisanal and small-scale mining (ASA) in sub-Saharan Africa. Extractives Industries Societies, 7(4), 1624‒1638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilson, G. M., McQuilken, J. T., Perks, R. B., Faulkner, S., Lahiri-Dutt, K., Urica, P. & Singo, P. (2021, September 2). State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector. https://policycommons.net/artifacts/1810587/state-of-the-artisanal-and-small-scale-mining-sector-2019-from-delve-english/2546105. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Hilson, G., & Maconachie, R. (2020). Artisanal and small-scale mining and sustainable development goals; opportunities and new directions for sub-Saharan Africa. Geoforum, 111, 125‒141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilson, G., Van Bockstael, S., Sauerwein, T., Hilson, A. & McQuilken, J. (2021). Artisanal and small-scale mining and COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa: a preliminary analysis. World Development, 139, 105315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hinton, J. J. (2011). Gender Differential Impacts and Benefits of Artisanal Mining: Engendering Pathways out of Poverty. A Case study in Katwe Kabatooro Town Council, Uganda. University of British Columbia. https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/download/pdf/24/1.0058307/1. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
Hunter, M., Mukasiri, S., Opala, K., Kaka, J. & Modi, L. P. (2021). Illicit gold markets in East and Southern Africa. https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Illicit-gold-markets-in-East-and-Southern-Africa-GITOC-.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
ILO (1999, October). ILO Research Paper No. 21 – The International Labour Organization and Globalization: Fundamental Rights, Decent Work and Social Justice. www.ilo.org/publications/international-labour-organization-and-globalization-fundamental-rights. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
IMPACT TRANSFORM. (2017, February). Women in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Central and East Africa; A Snapshot of challenges and Opportunities for Empowerment. https://impacttransform.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/women-mining-snapshot-central-and-east-africa-3.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
Kezzala, M. (2020, June 20). Entrepreneur (Artisanal miner/ gold dealer). (G.-T. Researcher, Interviewer).Google Scholar
Kibirige, E. (2020, June 20). Entrepreneur (gold dealer/miner). (G.-T. Researcher, Interviewer).Google Scholar
Kibirige, E. (2020, June 20). Entrepreneur (Leader in the National Artisanal Miners Association). (G.-T. Researcher, Interviewer).Google Scholar
Kitatta, S. (2017, August 16). Mubende gold row: Inside story of forceful evictions. https://observer.ug/businessnews/54412-mubende-gold-row-inside-story-of-forceful-evictions. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Kitatta, S. & Kayiira, P. (2019, August 28). Land evictions: Tears still flow in Mubende. https://observer.ug/news/headlines/61796-land-evictions-tears-still-flow-in-mubende. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Kiyando, A. & Huggins, C. (2021). Cantres of excellence for artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Tanzania: Assumptions around artisanal entrepreneurship and formalization. The Extractive Industries and Society, 7(2), 758‒766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McQuilken, J. & Perkz, R. (2021, May 4). 2020 State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector. https://stateofthesector.delvedatabase.org/. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
MoFPED. (2019, October 19). Gender and Equity Interventions Performance Report – Financial Year 2018/19. https://www.finance.go.ug/sites/default/files/Publications/BMAU%20GEPR%202018-19_0.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Mpagi, I., Nalubega, F. S., Ongode, B., Henderson, S. & Gimbo, H. R. (2017). Artisanal and gold mining: Both a woman’s and a man’s world. A Uganda case study. Gender and Development, 25(3), 471‒487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mthembu-Salter, G. (2015, May 6). Baseline study four: Gold trading and export in Kampala, Uganda. https://www.oecd.org/daf/inv/mne/Gold-Baseline-Study-4.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Natural Resource Governance. (2018, December). The Fiscal Regime for Uganda’s Mining Sector: A Need for Reform. https://resourcegovernance.org/sites/default/files/documents/fiscal-regime-for-uganda-mining-sector.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
NEMA. (2019, November). The National Action Plan for Artisanal Mining and small-scale gold mining in Uganda in Accordance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury. National Environmental Management Authority. https://www.mercuryconvention.org/sites/default/files/documents/national_action_plan/Uganda-NAP-2019.pdf. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
Njuki, J., Melesse, M., Chaitali, S., Seward, R., Renaud, M., Sutton, S. & Charron, D. (2022). Meeting the challenges of gender inequality through gender transformative research; lessons from research in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 44(2), 206‒228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omara, T., Karungi, S., Ssebulime, S., Kiplagat, M. K., Bongomin, O., Ogwang, R. & Akaganyira, S. (2019). Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Syanyonja, Busia gold district, South Eastern Uganda: impacts on the mining population and the environment. Asian Journal of Geological Research, 2(3), 212‒224.Google Scholar
Parliament of the Republic of Uganda. (2021, February 3). Police’s Mineral Protection Unit cited in illegal evictions. https://www.parliament.go.ug/news/4963/police%E2%80%99s-mineral-protection-unit-cited-illegal-evictions. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Perks, R. & Scheneck, N. (2021). COVID-19 in artisanal and small-scale mining communities: Preliminary results from a global rapid data collection exercise. Environmental Science and Policy, 121, 37‒41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Responsible Mines. (2018, January 17). Economic Contributions of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in Uganda; Gold and Clay. https://www.responsiblemines.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Uganda_case_study.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Sausi, C. (2017, August 1). Mining in Uganda. https://www.saferworld.org.uk/downloads/pubdocs/mining-in-uganda.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Sebina-Zziwa, A. & Kibombo, R. (2020). Licensing of artisanal mining on private land in Uganda: social and economic implications for female spouses and women entrepreneurs. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 54(1), 101‒117.Google Scholar
SENTRY. (2023, January 6). Untapped and Unprepared. Dirty Deals Threaten South Sudan’s Mining Sector. https://thesentry.org/reports/untapped-unprepared/. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar
Serwajja, E. & Mukwaya, P. I. (2020). Condemned to the periphery; the lived experiences of women in artisanal gold mining activities in Karamoja sub-region, Uganda. The Extractive Industries and Society, 7(4), 1511‒1524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serwajja, E. & Mukwaya, P. I. (2021). Environmental health and safety intricacies of artisanal mining in gold-rich landscapes of Karamoja, north-eastern Uganda. Journal of Sustainable Mining, 20(2). https://jsm.gig.eu/journal-of-sustainable-mining/vol20/iss2/4/. Accessed May 20, 2024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sidorenko, O., Rauno, S. & Moore, K. (2020). Rethinking the concept of small-scale mining for technologically advanced raw materials production. Resource Policy, 68, 101712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegal, S. & Veiga, M. M. (2009). Artisanal and small scale mining as an extralegal: De Soto and the redefinitions of formalization. Resource Policy, 34(1–2), 51‒56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2008.02.001. Accessed May 20, 2024.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoett, P. & Omrow, D. (2021). Spheres of Transnational Ecoviolence: Environmental Crime, Human Security, and Justice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Daily Monitor. (2021, February 1). Special Report. How Uganda Mining Industry Ground to Halt. https://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/How-Uganda-mining-industry-ground-halt/688342-4582680-1kodsqz/index.html. Accessed May 20, 2024.Google Scholar
UEITI. (2022, May). Uganda Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative Report for Fiscal Year 2019‒2020. https://eiti.org/documents/uganda-2019-2020-eiti-report. Accessed June 24, 2023.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×