
A payment issue between artisanal miners in Rubanda District and a mining company controlled by Rubanda West MP Moses Kamuntu Mwongyera has been resolved thanks to the intervention of State Minister for Minerals Peter Lokris and Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa.
Artisanal miners from the association Kigezi Iron Ore Artisanal Miners, headed by Dr. Narisis Kabaterine, claim that Kamuntu Investments Ltd has not paid them Shs. 3 Billion after supplying it with iron ore, which is transported to steel factories in Kampala, Jinja, and Kenya, saying that the cases are already taken, during a reconciliation meeting between miners and MP Kamuntu at Rwaara Village, Hamurwa town council.
In order to end Kamuntu’s monopoly, they also alerted the Minister about the association and wanted a mining license.
//CUE IN ARTISANAL MINERS…ON ISSUES….RR//
MP Kamuntu denied the claims, claiming that they were staged and without merit.

In an effort to resolve his disputes with artisanal miners, he requested that the Iron Ore Mining License be transferred from Hamurwa to Muko Sub County in the Rubanda District where he has 200 acres of land.
//CUE IN KAMUNTU….ON ACCUSATIONS….RR//
Minister Nankabirwa asserted that, in order to determine the truth about how the payment process was carried out, it is necessary to first undertake an investigation.
She stressed the necessity for the association to first have a geologist and pledged to grant the association a mining license.
//CUE IN MINISTER NANKABIRWA……ON THE MATTER….LUG//
According to Hon. David Bahati, Minister of State for Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, the Kigezi Sub-region possesses 312 million tons of iron ore that must be utilized in a cooperative manner so that people can profit from it.
He urged artisanal miners to come together and make amends if they wanted to use these minerals.
Regarding the legal aspect, Wilfred Nuwagaba, the representative for Ndorwa East County, recommended miners to obtain titles and register their land in order to prevent Land Conflicts.
CUE IN BAHATI & NIWAGABA….ON THE MATTER……RR//