Why Can't Uganda Simply Stamp out Blood Minerals?

Feb 18, 2015 | Jeff Mbanga
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Let's talk about blood minerals today. About nine years ago, I was assigned to write a story about Uganda's gold exports. Back then, as it is today, a number of government reports would list the amount of revenue the country earned from gold exports. However, you could hardly put a name to a company that exported gold, nor tell where this gold was mined, processed, and flown out. As part of my prep, I looked up a company, which I will not reveal, that dealt in gold. I was lucky to be granted an interview with one of its top directors. We met at a secluded area, somewhere in Kisementi, at the outskirts of the central business district. The man, of Indian origin, made sure few people were at our meeting point. He first questioned my interest in the story. He then went ahead and complained about the risks in the business, and told me of his fights with a rival company. By the end of our conservation, I knew this was not a trade for the faint-hearted dealers; the mafia were alive and well in this mineral trade.