UN experts in Uganda over DRC security, gold

The United Nations Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo was in Uganda recently on a fact-finding mission, where they met different officials ahead of a compilation of an annual report about the security situation in the DRC.

The UN team wanted to know whether the sanctions imposed on some DR Congo officials, such as arms embargo, travel bans, and asset freezes were being followed, and that Uganda was not complicit.

Uganda has for a long time been accused of offering a safe sanctuary to DR Congo warlords and business dealers for a long time, but these allegations have never been proven.

Reports published by Non-Governmental Organisations making some of these accusations have never presented enough evidence, beyond quoting a few people, to prove their assertions of Uganda being a safe haven for people accused to be criminals in DR Congo.

This is not the first time that the UN team has paid a visit to Uganda to verify such claims.

Among those that the UN team met in Kampala were members of the association of gold refiners in Uganda, who, together, are largely responsible for gold being Uganda’s top export.

The members of this association, who include companies such as Bullion, Simba, African Gold Refinery, Aurnish, Metal Testing, have played a critical role in creating a strong market for gold in the region.

The UN team needed to know the source of the gold Uganda’s refiners was exporting, whether there was due diligence being undertaken to ensure that the gold was sourced responsibly, and the impact of the new legislation on mining and mineral trade.

Uganda exports more than $2.2 billion worth of gold, the highest overall, beating other traditional exports such as coffee.

The refiners, according to a source with knowledge about what transpired in the meeting, explained that a substantial amount of gold comes from within Uganda.

The source said that the UN experts were told that artisanal miners, spread all over Uganda, were supplying the gold to the refineries.

The UN experts were told that it was hard to verify how much gold was coming from where. However the experts learned that custom officials, stationed at each refinery to trace the source of every product coming in and leaving were probably in the best position to provide this information.

Uganda’s artisanal miners are currently being registered in a biometric system, which, when complete before the end of this year, will provide some of the answers the UN experts were seeking.

A member of the refiners’ association who attended the meeting said the discussions were cordial and “both sides agreed on most of the issues.”

The DR Congo and Uganda are increasingly formalising their trade ties, which should be able to offer adequate data to groups such as the UN’s experts.

In the past week alone, it was reported that exports from Uganda to the DR Congo were higher than any to the other East African countries. It was the first time in more than a decade that another country within the region had imported more from Uganda, than Kenya had.

Relatedly, the DRC-Uganda Business Association (DUBA) will hold a forum on ‘Deepening Bilateral Trade, Partnerships, Knowledge Transfer for Mutual Peace and Prosperity’ in Kampala on March 22, 2022.

Similar business meetings will be held in Kinshasa and Goma next month under the theme ‘Boosting Business and Investments between Uganda and DRC’.