The curse of mineral resources

Today was a bit of a reality shock of sorts. Karamoja is a very mineral rich region, yet the people who live here have had little or no interest in these resources until the present time. People here are pastoralist, they live of the land and follow the patterns of the season for grazing their cattle, and this takes them across the beautiful Karamoja region and past many sources of great mineral wealth. Today I was able to see a little bit of this wealth, and what it could potentially mean for the people of the region.

Walking through Karamoja

I met Teba in town and we proceeded to walk for a few hours, past the settlement of Rupa until we ran into some artisanal miners right off the road. The search for gold here is conducted by digging holes and tunnels and then sifting through the dirt with water which is carried for kilometres by children. The gold, in small vials, is then sold on to traders who bring it to town, and then it is further sold on to Kampala. The digging of the holes to find gold and carrying water for such a distance seems so much work for what is perhaps not even a gram of gold, yet it is the income of the people here. This is not their traditional way of life, but as the market is now there they are adjusting as best as they can to profit, if even just a little bit. I was told on the other side of the mountain there is a big gold mine, but this mine is managed by an Indian company and little profit is given to the local population.

One of the little girls carrying water for use to sift gold

Artisanal miners at work

After seeing the artisanal miners we proceeded by boda to a marble excavation point. I have never in my life seen such huge blocks of marble, and when you look at the mountain it seems like the whole mountain is made up of it. The company who owns the place I am told is an Arab company that make use of cheap local labour (that said they had not been paid for 6 months) to get the marble out, and then it is sent with trucks to Mombasa and shipped out from there. I can only imagine the profit margin to be huge as the miners who break some of the stone into smaller pieces are paid the equivalent of 40 $ per truckload.

Huge blocks of marble

Discussing with Teba on the wealth that surrounds us

It is amazing to see a place with so much wealth hidden underneath the ground or in the mountain, yet the people have so little, and the little they have in the form of their culture is being taken away from them. I do believe there is hope for Karamoja, I think the great mineral wealth can be an enormous resource for the population. However it is important that their rights are protected. It is understandable that foreign companies will come to the region, but companies need to be held responsible for the way in which they conduct their business on Karimojong land. I know this is one of KDF’s many battles, and I hope that being here I can help, if even a little to get word out there that is happening. Karamoja has the potential to be great, but they need a lot of help, mostly in the form of management of resources and understanding of local culture. It is not a place that will develop over night or become rich within months, the culture of the people and their way of life would not permit this. My hope is that the Karimojong will gain from the mineral wealth which their land holds, and that the people who are trying to take advantage of the lack of control of the resources will be held accountable. The curse of mineral resources have ruined many countries and areas, I do not want to see Karamoja become one of those. 

Okay so it is Friday night so that was my serious thoughts of the day. I am a bit tired from the long walk, so I will sign off now and go have a beer and relax a bit before another weekend of more learning and work.

X Maria