Following intensified insecurity in the Karamoja region, different miners have continuously withdrawn from the fields citing persistent raids by suspected rustlers.
This according to the local governments in the region has resulted in the loss of revenue previously got from the transportation of the minerals.
One of the miners, Mohammad Ali, the director of African leg investment which was mining limestone in Moroto withdrew his team from the region saying that there are serious threats to their lives posed by the rustlers.
Similarly, Patrick Musinguzi from Harms Investment, a company that was excavating gold from Lopedo in the Kaabong district, and Charles Karoli from Leadway Uganda limited which was mining marble in the Rupa sub-county referred to the same challenges for the suspension of their activities.
Wondering why cattle rustlers were disrupting the activities of miners, co-presenter of The Fatboy Show Olive Najjuma discerned that they might be protecting other people’s interests at the expense of theirs.
She said, “Kabuleeta doesn't believe that these are rustlers attacking people which begs the question; why are rustlers attacking miners when they are only interested in cows? These guys are mining minerals, where is the connection?” She wondered.
She and James Onen commonly known as Fatboy rationalized that the rustlers might be funded by certain political figures who have an interest in the fields hence trying to frustrate the miners as they try to hold the mineral fields.
“I don't know if we will ever get to the bottom of this but it's no secret that there's been lots of people eyeing the region for its mineral wealth and am sure there’s fierce competition for the rights to mine in particular places,” Olive said.
She asserted that the involved people aren't locals because the rustler’s interests are in cattle only.
“Rustlers arent interested in minerals, they don't even have the resources to mine. So you can't come and tell us that we should believe the story we are seeing in the media that rustlers are attacking the miners,” she said.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.
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