
A trader sells rock salt on the shores of Lake Katwe. PHOTO | BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI
A conflict has emerged between artisanal salt miners and traders and a joint venture known as Rwenzori Shining Stars Limited, which plans to invest $736.5 million (Shs2.6 trillion) to revive the Lake Katwe Salt Project in Kasese District.
There was excitement in the manufacturing sector over three years ago when it was announced that a joint venture between Uganda’s Rwenzori Salt Industries Limited and Chinese company Shining Star Group was seeking to revive the stalled salt factory.
It was reported that Rwenzori Shining Stars Limited would utilise the salt brine as a raw material to produce between 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of salt per year at the Lake Katwe Salt Works.
In addition, they would produce phosphate for fertiliser production, glasses, batteries and chlorine for the treatment of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) plants. The consortium was established following an investment agreement that was signed in April 2018 by the two parties, with Rwenzori Salt Industries holding a 49 per cent stake in the company and Shining Star Group with a share-holding of 51 per cent.
Rwenzori Salt Industries Limited is a private company limited by shares. The directors Capt George Micheal Mukula, and Rodney Mukula, were both unavailable for comment. After acquiring a three-year exploration licence from the Energy Ministry in November 2018, the company proceeded to conduct exploration works. A commercial feasibility study was later completed in 2019 by Deloitte and Touche Company.
“We have heard of Mukula’s company, but we have never seen them here. We are constantly worried about the investors who could end up chasing us away from here. This is our livelihood. If they chased me away, where would I go? A salt pan costs between Shs7m and Shs20m and I depend on it for the welfare of my family,” Mr Zadock Sebagala, the vice chairman of the Lake Katwe Mahonde Salt Extractors and Traders Cooperative Association, told the Monitor.
Standoff Mr Nicholas Kagongo, the director of the Katwe Eco Tourism Information Centre, says when officials of Rwenzori Shining Star Limited went to Katwe they informed the salt miners that they wanted to extract salt from Lake Katwe for further processing. The investors had acquired an exploration licence from the Energy Ministry in early 2020.
“When the Rwenzori Shining Star investors came here, the Katwe-Kabatooro Town Council granted them surface rights, which brought them into conflict with the artisanal salt miners,” Kagongo says, adding that they wanted the investors to produce an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA).
The investors left, but would soon return after the artisanal miners had managed to form 24 cooperative societies.
“With time we are going to merge them into a union. A union will be able to negotiate with the investors or we shall apply for an exploration licence. Or we could go into a partnership with the investors,” Kagongo reveals, safe in the knowledge that the New Mining and Minerals Act, 2022 provides for an artisanal mining licence.
The government is in the process of developing the Mining and Licensing Regulations of 2023, which will allow the formalisation of artisanal mining activities. Government data indicates that the artisanal mining sector accounts for more than 80 per cent of the production of minerals.
The salt factory was commissioned by President Idi Amin in 1977. It was owned by Uganda Development Cooperation (UDC) and a German company Thyne Company. The purpose of the factory was to process table salt (sodium chloride) for human consumption. Customs data available at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) shows that the country’s annual salt imports decreased from 205,335,995 kilogrammes valued at more than Shs104.3 billion in 2021 to 149,327,174 kilogrammes worth over Shs59.4 billion in 2024.
Salty
According to UDC, the Lake Katwe Salt Project was one of the projects implemented by UDC before its holding company was wound up in 1998. UDC incorporated Lake Katwe Salt Company in 1975 with the mandate to extract, and process salt for both human and industrial use.
“Regrettably, it did not produce any salt due to lack of an in-depth chemical analysis to identify the properties within the brine hence resulting in the poor technology design,” UDC says. Uganda’s import volumes in the last three years (2021 to 2023) totalled 650,010,952 kilogrammes valued at over Shs274.4 billion. The top 11 countries from which Uganda imports salt are Kenya, Tanzania, India, Egypt, Namibia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, China, Denmark, United Kingdom, and South Africa. Per Kagongo, Thyne Company never produced any salt because of a range of reasons. For one, the metals the Germans had used to construct the factory could not resist the salt corrosion. Then there was a power deficit. The Germans also used asbestos while constructing, which was a danger to the workers in case they inhaled the asbestos fibres.
“They (the Germans) built the factory on the shores of Lake Edward to use fresh water to generate steam to evaporate the salt water to extract the salt crystals,” Kagongo says.
“Another failure was that they were not able to eliminate other impurities in the salt water to remain with sodium chloride which was their main target,” Kagongo adds.
SALT MINING
According to the Mineral Reserves and Potential of Uganda and Status of Exploration and Development prepared by the Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, there are salt deposits in Kibiro in Hoima District, and in Katwe and Kasenyi in Kasese District.
Salt is mined for animal and human consumption locally. Industrial production opportunities are available. The Rwenzori Region Minerals and Extractives Sector Investment Profile produced by Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) indicates that the key products include: Grade 1— human consumption (table salt); Grade 2—animal consumption; Grade 3—rock salt (food softening, salt licks for animals); Iodised table salt, potassium chloride and sodium bicarbonate; and Deicing product, chemicals industry, particularly in the manufacture of chloralkali and plastics.
UIA has estimated the demand for salt to increase from 166,955 tonnes in 2020 to 190,874 tonnes in 2025 and to 216,948 tonnes in 2030.