Mubende gold miner electrocuted

Artisanal gold miners at a mine in Kitumbi Sub-county in Mubende District recently. FILE PHOTO

Mubende- Artisanal gold miners in Kitumbi, Mubende District are in shock after their colleague was electrocuted inside a mining pit.

Paul Mbaziira, was working at Lugonge Gold Mine site.

The 35-year-old was electrocuted as he came out of the pit. He reportedly touched an uninsulated power cable.

 Mr David Tinyefunza, who was nearby said the body was retrieved by artisanal miners.

“Some of the miners thought Mbaziira was still alive and rushed him to Bukuya Health Centre ll. On arrival, medical workers told them that he was dead,” Mr Tinyefunza said.

 Mr Norbert Ochom, the Wamala Region Police spokesperson, said they are waiting for a post-mortem report to confirm the actual cause of his death.

Two years ago, government closed several mines in Mubende District and evicted thousands of people from the area.

However, dozens of miners have since returned to the mines.

In 2012, AUC Mining Company secured an exploration licence from the Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) in the Ministry of Energy to explore gold in an area of about 207.3747 square kilometres in Kitumbi Sub-county.

The company claimed it was unable to carry out any exploration on the land because of the influx of illegal miners.

Government officials claimed that the miners were encroaching on sites that were allocated to foreign investors and promised to relocate the miners to alternative mining sites in the district.

On August 4, 2017, security forces commanded by Col Joseph Balikuddembe, the UPDF 1st Division commander, descended on the gold mining sites and ordered the miners to vacate within two hours.

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Under their umbrella body Kitumbi-Kayonza Miners Association, the miners said since their eviction in August, they have been rendered jobless and can no longer fend for their families