Kassanda district loses Sh1.5 billion of daily revenue to gold miners

By Our Reporter

27^th June 2023

Kassanda District Local Government has alleged that it is losing at least 1.5 billion Shillings daily in revenue to artisanal and small-scale gold miners.

The LCV Chairperson, Kasirye Zimula, revealed that they have investigated and discovered that more than four kilograms of gold worth 1.5 billion Shillings are sneaked out of Kassanda without royalties being paid to the district coffers.

Zumula says that the district administration has been referred by the miners to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development for royalties. He added that when approached, the Ministry told them Kassanda mining area is still under exploration.

More than 30,000 artisanal and small-scale miners, pit owners, mineral processors, and dealers are said to be operating in the Kisita, Bukuya, and Kagaba Hill mines, among others in Kassanda.

In 2017, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni abolished the tax for gold royalties to encourage its flow into the country. But in July 2021, the Government introduced a new tax on processed and unprocessed gold which was protested by gold miners.

While royalties were removed, a tax on gold export remained; a 5 percent tax on local and 1 percent on smuggled or imported gold.

Zumula wants the government to work out a modality to enable the district to benefit from the gold mined in Kassanda.

Zumula also told the Leader of Opposition – LOP in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga that gold mining activities were polluting the environment orchestrated by the use of mercury and rudimentary tools.

But, Mpuuga allayed fears that so much gold worth three billion is being smuggled out of Kassanda and questioned the government’s plan for districts with gold minerals. He said that such areas should have good road infrastructure like the oil roads in Hoima.

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