Former National Resistance Army (NRA) commander Col. Samson Mande on Thursday clashed with State Minister for Minerals Phionah Nyamutoro over the registration of the Kanungu District United Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Cooperative Society Limited.
The confrontation occurred during an extraordinary Kanungu District Council session convened to discuss alleged illegal gold mining at Kayungwe Gold Mine in Kayungwe Sub-county, which district officials said was being facilitated by security officers. The council also considered allegations of torture and mistreatment of artisanal gold miners by security authorities.
Kayungwe Gold Mine was closed in July 2026, forcing artisanal miners to vacate the site.The mine is located within Exploration Licence EL00135, which was granted to Shiye Miners Company for mineral exploration.
Following the closure, artisanal miners were advised to obtain the required licences before resuming operations in areas officially gazetted for artisanal mining. During the council session, Nyamutoro said three artisanal miners’ associations—the Rugyeyo Artisanal Miners Association, Kanungu Artisanal Miners Association and Kayungwe Artisanal Miners Association—had applied for licences and were in the final stages of obtaining them.
She said the licences would allow members of the associations to resume mining activities in areas gazetted for artisanal mining. Nyamutoro said that after the three associations began the licensing process, a group of people led by Col. Mande submitted the Kanungu District United Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Cooperative Society Limited for registration as an artisanal miners’ association.
According to Nyamutoro, the group was required to submit a list of seven committee members but instead submitted nine names. She said subsequent investigations by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development found that the cooperative had created confusion among miners and authorities in Kanungu District.
Nyamutoro consequently declared the cooperative null and void from the ministry’s perspective, saying it had not followed the required legal procedures for registration and licensing. Mande protested the minister’s decision, arguing that the cooperative had been legally registered by the Registrar of Cooperatives and could therefore not simply be declared null and void.
Nyamutoro, however, interrupted him, insisting that while the cooperative might have been registered by the Registrar of Cooperatives, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development did not recognise it and would not engage with it in relation to mining activities.
Mande maintained that even if the cooperative was not allowed to operate at Kayungwe Gold Mine, it would continue its activities elsewhere.He said the cooperative members had consulted the District Commercial Officer, who advised them to increase the number of committee members from seven to nine.
Nyamutoro maintained that the ministry had advised Mande against using the name Kanungu District United Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners Cooperative Society Limited for the intended mining activities, but that he had disregarded the advice.
Mande countered that the members had consulted the District Commercial Officer and proceeded with the registration based on the advice they received. He further accused the minister of making misleading statements about the cooperative, arguing that such allegations should not be tolerated.
The exchange grew increasingly heated, with Nyamutoro telling Mande that although she respected him as an elder and as someone old enough to be her father, he should be transparent with the cooperative’s members and ensure that personal interests did not influence the matter. Nyamutoro said her position was guided by the law and the interests of Uganda’s mining sector, rather than Mande’s personal interests-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
