Gold is one of the most precious minerals in the World, it has sparked wars amongst great nations, trapped fortune hunters and remains a symbol of wealth, which ends in jewel stores and bank vaults.

Uganda has many gold-rich areas and the drab village of Rijinji in Mubende District is one of the treasure troves that warmly embraces these precious stones buried in its ground.

On 4th August 2017, the government banned artisanal mining in this area. The government cited unaccounted for numbers who had died in the mines, the use of dangerous chemicals that are a threat to the environment and human life among other reasons for the ban.

However, Dan Kibirige one of the miners does not agree with the decision by the government. “This world we live in is very unfair. You can’t go to Rujinji and find only registered people.

They talked of use of dangerous chemicals but I have not seen them introduce better technology to address the problem. They talked about foreigners from other countries who are in the mines, but this is the work of the government,” Kibirige told NTV
Before the ban, three mines; Nyonga, Kampala and Kikade used to produce 3 kilos of gold on a daily basis.

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At the current market price, this gold costs about 500 million shillings. They had close to 1000 people and each person would at least get one gram of gold every day. They would get one kilogram of gold worth 135 million shillings.

After the ban, the locals who had erected rickety structures in this area were given two hours to vacate the mines.

This followed deployment of police in charge of minerals and the army to ensure that nobody accesses the mines.

Shortly after the ban, a murkier trade controlled by men in uniform has emerged. Like a personal fiefdom, these security personnel control who mines here and share the profits of this lucrative trade.

Some few artisanal miners claim they are here on the mercy of the army and police who operate under a cloud of suspicion. “Two days after they chased us away, those supposed to guard the place came looking for us and we were made their workers.

We first complained to someone called Kananura, saying that we also want to continue eking a living from the mines we used to work in, he responded saying that for us we have the spades he has the guns.

We painstakingly work for them but they are unfair when it comes to paying us.

The moment you try to make some noise, one of the people in plain clothes will pull a shirt off to show you his concealed pistol as a means to scare you,” said a young man who concealed his identity for fear of reprisal.

This dirt road snakes through an expanse where illegal mining taking activities are allegedly taking place. 

On our way, we filmed several tinted cars whose drivers appeared suspicious of our presence. “Those are always security operatives who do not want to be seen,” says Kibirige. To disguise myself, I borrowed a Muslim cap from a friend who was travelling with us.

We could not go further that day for fear of being noticed before concluding our investigation.

The following day, my colleagues carried phones and the video camera in a sack which is a common way of carrying mining tools.

They befriended some miners to avoid detection.

We managed to take pictures of what is termed as Z areas where gold is separated from ores.

With security patrols and a spy network which blends into the civilian community, one would not imagine that illegal mining still takes place here. This time it is not the locals mining but security personnel. After our hosts felt comfortable enough, we were taken to the mines.
Sources privy to the mining business told us that miners and dealers pay between shs 500,000 shs to shs 2,000,000 as a protection fee to the soldiers and to be accorded access to the mines. When asked about the continued illegalities in Rujinji mines perpetrated by the police, the force spokesperson, Emilian Kayima, said that the force will liaise with line commandants to avert the problem. “If security is supporting the illegal miners, then it is an illegality. But if it is happening, then I will share this information with the commandant of minerals protection unit, and the Regional Police Commander to work hand in hand, first of all, to appreciate that it is true. If it is true then we will stop it because it is against the directive of government,” Kayima revealed. His counterpart Brig Richard Karemire refused to speak to NTV when contacted over the army’s role.
Illegal mining always happens during the night where the miners armed with picks and shovels dig up the raw materials; go over 30 feet down the tunnels, to break into the gold rich-ore rocks and sand. The mining takes place between 7 pm and 4 am. 

Those who are found beyond that time, are always whipped and their equipment confiscated. “One day it was past time the mining time and we saw a car carrying armed personnel suddenly stop in front of us. One of the men, corked the gun, and flashed a torch into my eyes. He then beat me and I rushed into the car. We spent a night in the police cells. 

They almost fractured my shoulder borne,” revealed a man who spoke anonymously. Some of the miners claim that they are sent by the police and if they are lucky, they are paid in form of sand or ores which they sometimes process and find no gold. 

Because they work over-night, NTV captured some miners taking naps as they waited for the ores to dry so that they can be crashed easily. 

There is a motley gang of plain-clothed stick-wielding men who keep a close eye at how much gold the miners will get.
The artisanal miners are paid a paltry shs 130,000 to get their hands dirty to access every gram of gold.
At this shabby town, there are miners who are licensed to buy gold. While there, we saw cars with Tanzanian number plates.

We were told that they are owned by Tanzanians who have the gold processing technology. We were also told that many boda-boda cyclists work as spies on behalf of illicit gold dealers.

Even in the dark of the night, the cyclists continue to comb pockets of this town.

After doing our undercover filming for six days, we drove to the mining area in broad daylight. 

I had to be seen for not more than a day since we were viewed as saboteurs in the area who had come here to knock the winds out of their sails.

As business booms, much less of the revenues trickle down to this poor community. We made a stop at Good Gift Infant School with shanty structures.

Here, pieces of timber are used as an improvised blackboard. 

We found pupils about to conclude the day, standing on heaps of sand. The spirit of East Africa and love for their motherland dwells here as they sang the National and East African Anthem. But outside, is cracked maize ravaged by weevils. It is this maze from which the school will make flour for bread for the pupils who don’t go home for lunch due to long distances.

On 10th may, 2018 Mubende United Miners Assembly wrote to Irene Muloni, the minister of energy and Mineral Development asking to effect the 30 percent share meant for the evicted miners and landlords following the president’s directive on 6th April 2018.

Although the miners had welcomed the government offer, they disagreed with the developer AUC mining company to which highly placed politicians subscribe.

The contested area scales to 207.8 square kilometres.

Some of the owners of AUC are Gertrude Njuba who works as the state House Land Affairs Director and Moses Masagazi, a geologist who has been Njuba’s aide since 1987.

The other shareholders are foreigners. “The investor wanted to take areas where we were formally working, we thought as an investor, it would be okay for him to go and discover new areas because exploration means that you have the capability, machinery and money,” said one of the miners.

This stalemate has lasted almost a year. However, the army and Police supposed to guard this area, have exploited the conflict to enrich themselves.

Local leaders are also accused of siding with developers to side-line the local miners. I asked Moses Bakaluba the LC3 chairperson, Kitumbi about the allegations levelled against the local leadership. “I have never seen gold, but when people get money, I am among the beneficiaries because they will have the propensity to do business which can be taxed.

I am also happy because when people get rich, I know this has happened during my tenure,” says Bakaluba.

Driving to Rujinji mining area under the control of plain-clothed police and army officers comes at great risk. Many of the security personnel here carry sticks and guns concealed in their jackets.

Here, the area is like a war-zone, where jungle law prevails.

For instance, I did not see any police post. 

Inside the mines, are strangers from the neighbouring countries. As we returned, I was suspicious of the vehicle in front of us after its driver acted strangely.
The driver of this vehicle forcefully overtook the saloon car, ahead of him. We drove for less than a kilometre and we were intercepted. Two officers from police and the army stopped us and asked whether we had a letter from the commandant of minerals from police allowing us to access the area.

They further explained that the mines had been infiltrated by people suspected to be rebels. However, I did not see any evidence of rebel activity in this area.
Uganda lost more than Shs 10 billion in royalties from undeclared gold trade last year. According to the auditor general's report for 2016 – 2017 financial year, only 16kgs in gold exports were authorized while Uganda Revenue Authority records showed that more than 8,000kgs were exported. As the sun sets over Rujinji, there is no glimmer of hope that the windfall from these rich gold deposits, will free these communities from the shackles of poverty. 

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