A team of senior government officials have come together to pave ways of stemming fraud in the minerals sector.
During a follow up meeting on gold trade fraud in Uganda at the State House Investors Protection Unit (SHIPU) offices in Kampala, the Permanent Secretary, ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Irene Batebe said fraudsters mainly deal in gold and a number of investors have fallen victim to fake gold deals.
The first meeting was held in January 2025 and here the heads of government agencies agreed on the need to step up action to prevent fraud in order to redeem the image of the economy.
Batebe called for more concerted efforts with various government ntities such as Uganda Police to deal with the challenge.
“We must really work together if we are to tackle this challenge. Efforts must be coordinated in an ecosystem arrangement so that in the future we can as well consolidate on them,” she urged.
She said so far, they have conducted a case study on Tanzania regarding regulation of business and were looking forward to benchmark in the near future.
“Unlike Tanzania, Uganda lacks designated points of sale and purchase of gold. We are working with the Attorney General to come up with a law to enable us to set up designated places for mineral markets and buying centres to overcome black markets and fraud,” she said.
Batebe further expressed the need for close collaboration with security agencies to effectively execute the regulations that will be put in place to streamline gold trade.
“We are also coming up with a digital platform which is supposed to support tracking and revenue management. Here revenue collection will be automatic,” she said.
The Head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Brig. Henry Isoke advised that the government should come up with game changing regulations in order to fix the overwhelming issue, causing a disservice to Uganda as a country.
“We should strengthen strategic collaboration among government agencies if we are to achieve our goal,” Brig Isoke noted.
“We need to move faster, timeline is key, engage the Attorney General, Cabinet and have a law in place to regulate the sector.”
The Head of SHIPU, Col. Edith Nakalema urged that agencies need to be dedicated towards plugging the loopholes in the entire eco-system.
“This calls for heightened vigilance along the gold fraud journey in each of our roles,” she said, further reminding the attendees that the role of SHIPU is to protect investors not only from unnecessary delays in the eco-system but also from fraudulent actors within the system.
Representing the Inspector General of Police, AIGP Frank Mwesigwa, Police Director of Operations described the gold scam as a big elephant in the house that must be dealt with as soon as possible.
“In 4 months, 48 cases have been reported. We can only fight this scam when we are working together. With policy interventions in place, we will be able to overcome the issue.”
Brig. Gen. Mike Kisame, the Head of Aviation Security at Entebbe International Airport said that most times fraud is committed through a chain of individuals who are well connected financially and politically.
He called for collaborative efforts among stakeholders if they are to win over the criminal act.
