Artisanal and small scale gold mining in the Karamoja region has become risky owing to cattle rustling that has made mining close to impossible.
A number of districts in the region have in the last several months been hit by cattle rustlers. In the gold mining district of Abim, rustlers have been reported to operate in the hills of Morulem and Omoru, where the main mine sites are located, hindering ASM operations.
Whereas no deaths have been reported among the miners, they have nonetheless registered immense losses since November 2021 when the raids intensified.
Denis Achilla, a miner from Omoru narrates that the rustlers hide behind the hills before launching their raids.
He says he has been forced to venture into another line of business, where he is making less money compared to mining. He depends on farm produce to be able to support his family and send his two children to school. Before, the raids started, he says he mined about two to three grammes on a good day and sold each at UGX 150,000 in Abim, and UGX 180,000 in Kampala.
Margaret Acheng says she and a group of other miners from Morulem Sub County have since January 8, 2022 failed to access the mines. On January 10, an attempt to return to the mines almost cost her life when they were pursued by the warriors.
She further speaks of an incident where three miners were shot at while attempting to reach the mines. Two of them are still nursing wounds in hospital.
In the past week, Margaret, a single mother of six (6) has had to depend on the gold she had previously hoarded to survive. She worries about getting stranded when all her gold is finished and will still not be able to go to the mines. She shared that after several threats from the rustlers, miners are scared to sneak back into the mines.
Last year, the UPDF launched a disarmament exercise. With only measured progress in the Karamoja region, raids are still ongoing, with rustlers engaging arms.
Miners are wary as to when they will be able to return to the mines and work without fear and disruption from the cattle rustlers, who are mainly from neighbouring Amudat district.
Basil Oketch, a miner from Morulem Sub County shares that despite the UPDF efforts to disperse the rustlers, they continue to raid cattle in Abim district.
Denis Ogira, a UPDF officer who coordinates operations in the communities, shares that they face a number of challenges when trying to counter rustlers’ attacks.
“We do not have ready transport to these places when called upon so sometimes we do not reach on time,” he says, adding that communication with locals is difficult, especially when they (locals) are alerting the UPDF about attacks.
He noted that they resolved to escorting miners in Morulem to the mines, three times a week, from 8am to 3pm while patrolling the sites to ensure they do net get attacked while they are working. He shared that they were attacked once during one of these patrols in March, by six rustlers. One was killed during the shootout while the rest escaped.
