The government of Uganda has revealed why they terminated the contract with Tibet-Hima, the Chinese company responsible for the Kilembe Mines concession, following demands to carry out excessive amounts of Uganda’s natural resources for testing in China.
The contract’s cancellation news was revealed on Thursday by the Minister of State for Investment Evelyn Anite during a session with Parliament’s Committee of Natural Resources where she had been summoned to explain the slow progress in the revival of Kilembe Mines in Kasese.
While addressing the committee, Anite explained that the concessionaire had requested to export 30,000 metric tons of copper, cobalt, and gold as “samples” for testing. “This contractor demanded of Government, that just for sample, he needed 30,000 metric tons of copper, cobalt, and gold. Just for a sample. It was very wrong in the wisdom of the contractor to think that we could allow him to take our God-given natural resources to a magnitude of 30,000 metric tons and take it as a sample,” she explained.
President Yoweri Museveni, according to Anite, strongly rejected the demand, asserting that Uganda’s resources must benefit Ugandans. “The President said that these resources belong to Ugandans, and the concessionaire Tibet-Hima said, if that is the case, I will not continue with you,” Anite said, adding, “It couldn’t make sense, not to the President, not to me, not anyone in Government, and therefore we refused, and that was the point of departure.”
The Minister further disclosed that a due diligence process had exposed the company’s lack of capacity, leading to the decision to terminate the contract.
“We did due diligence and opened up and discovered that this company had no capacity. What the Government did to contract this concessionaire was wrong,” she said.
She however lamented the losses incurred due to the failed partnership, including lost jobs and concessionaire fees, and the missed opportunity to revive the Kilembe Mines to its former glory. “It is a financial, material, social, and emotional loss to the Government of Uganda,” Anite noted.
The Kilembe Mines, once a significant source of copper and cobalt, have been subject to multiple revival attempts, with the government continuing to explore new investment partners.
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