Tin miners protest harassment, falling prices and delayed payment

At least 400 artisanal and small scale miners from the Mwerasandhu tin mines in Rwamwire and Ruhaama parishes in Ruhaama Ntungamo District on Friday went on strike protesting low prices and delayed payment.
The protestors also accused mineral police deployed to enforce compliance in the mining fields leased to Zanack Holdings Mining Company, of perpetrating torture and harassment.
“While we use our energy to mine and deploy everything we can to get minerals to sustain our families, we are subjected to torture by mineral police deployed here whenever they find us with tin on suspicion that we plan to sell it to other companies. As punishment, they subject us to inhumane treatment like lying on ground and face the sun the whole day or crawling on the knees for a good distance,” one of the miners, Mr Osbert Gumisisriza told Daily Monitor.
Mr Geoffrey Musene, another miner and resident said his crops were destroyed by mineral police who accused him of planting close to the mining land and using the same land for ceiling minerals mined from the field which they would not control directly.

Armed with tree branches and mining equipment including shovels, hammers, hoes, iron bars and other items, the miners who included women and children matched from the mining field where they first converged to the Ruhaama sub county headquarters a distance of about 5 kilometres on foot without interruption.
Policemen from mineral police attempted to stop them at Kijojo with no success.

They later camped at Ruhaama sub county headquarters for over four hours where they met local leaders including the sub county chairperson, Mr John Kwatampora, the district councilor Mr Benard Ahabwe Mukasa, Mr Joseph Mukasa and several police and security officials.

The miners accused the local leaders of being silent on their grievances and condemning them to suffering despite petitions they earlier presented to the RDC, the district chairman, the minister for minerals and area MPs.
Mr Natamba Abel, a miner said despite the torture meted against them, they were last paid for mining in September 2019 but they are still forced to sell their products to the company even when they know they could get better prices outside the company dealers.
“While we have also managed to accept the torture and harsh conditions, it is unfortunate that we have also been denied our payment. Since September, no one has been paid for the tin supplied to Zanack. The price of tin has since reduced from Shs32, 000 to Shs7, 000 per kilogramme. They say we must sell to them because they are the only legal buyers yet we can sell the minerals at 30,000 elsewhere,” Mr Natamba said.
Mr Musisi Katende who represented the company at Ruhaama Sub-county headquarters acknowledged the fall in prices associating it to closure of the Rwanda border point and general fall in minerals market prices in the country.
He said the company is currently faced with several market challenges and therefore cannot afford to pay miners in time.

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Tin miners decry low prices, harassment

The miners say the price of tin at the mines has fallen to the lowest in 30 years.

“If you are protesting on prices we have no control because it is a general problem. We might start buying even at lower prices than that but we don’t think we are mistreating you. We had suggested to close the mines but you asked us to keep them open. We therefore cannot allow you to sell the minerals on black market yet we have a lease. We must pay license and other taxes,” Mr Katende said.
A mineral police officer at the mining centre who identified himself as Assistant Inspector of Police (AIP) Joseph Eyati denied the allegations of torture.
He however, said they were using all means to enforce compliance and prevent smuggling the minerals from the gazzetted lease company to other buyers.