NEWS– The Deputy speaker of the Ugandan parliament Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa Bangyirana has on 1st October 2024 opened the 13th Mineral wealth conference at the Kampala based Kampala Serena Hotel.
This conference is an important platform for discussing strategies for unlocking mineral wealth for sustainable development.
According to Tayebwa, Uganda’s mining industry is growing steadily, with increasing interest from both local and international investors.
Parliament enacted the Mining and Minerals Act 2022 to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework to ensure responsible and sustainable mining.
“The Minister, Hon. Ruth Nankabirwa, informed me that progress is ongoing to have regulations in place to enable the full implementation of the law. We have decided, as Parliament, that any laws aimed at facilitating the business community should be given priority”, he added.
Deputy speaker called for transparency in the mineral sector where he asked the Minister to do away with vendors of mining licenses.
On the issue of environmental protection, Tayebwa called for a push to professionalize and ensure that internationally accepted Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices are used and respected while mining as the sector has a huge impact on our environment.
He also called on the mining companies to involve the local communities in their business to develop the areas where they are mining.
