"Negotiate with mineral-rich land owners" 6 October 2014

...President Museveni told a Mineral Wealth Conference in Kampala that government was planning to change the law so that investors can access privately held land that contains minerals without negotiating with the owners...I have stressed before and still maintain that the mining sector has immense potential to transform the social welfare and lives of our communities at the micro-economic level. But to harness this potential, Uganda should focus on a policy and legal framework that places local communities at the center of development as opposed to glorifying Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)...Many mining projects in Uganda, as well as regionally and internationally have failed to take off simply because mining investors thought they could ignore the host communities and resort to corporate cons or only appease elitist policy makers at the center of power. But depriving host communities from active participation in mineral development can only increase the incidence of violence. The practicality of the President’s suggestion is also questionable considering that minerals are spread across all regions of Uganda, meaning that compulsory land acquisition would necessitate displacement of large communities. Industry majors such as Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton have demonstrated in Australia and West Africa that mining and host communities can negotiate and economically co-exist. By involving the host communities in their decision-making, these mining companies have in return secured a social license to operate as well as security for their investments.