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Article

13 Jun 2017

Author:
Josephine Nabaale, Oil in Uganda

Uganda: Cultural issues & lack of information deter women from benefiting from mining sector

"Culture hindering women involvement and benefits from mining"

Mubende gold mining is highly dominated by men, a trait blamed on the cultural belief of women not being allowed to access mines. Mr Kibirige Emmanuel the secretary Singo Artisan Small Scale Miners Association (SASSMA)...explains that they have 1420 registered members but only 472 are women that deal in petty jobs like panning gold dust, spreading the gold dust in the sun to dry up among others. “Women engagement in the gold mining is rooted back in our culture. It was believed that if you slept with a woman you could never get gold the next day. Women were not allowed to step near a gold pit because they were looked at as a curse, that if they got close to a gold pit, gold could disappear. As a result we also told our workers never to sleep with a woman for a full week,” Mr Kibirige revealed...

However others also blame the limited involvement of women in the mining sector on limited information provision. About 2500 women in Mubende district have not directly engaged in mining sector due to lack of information which has hindered there economic empowerment. According to the community development officer for Kitumbi Sub County Mr senkusu Edward the information gap in the mining sector has greatly affected the women involvement in this activity thus carrying out petty jobs like gold dust panning where they earn peanuts...

Ms Nivatiti Nandujja  the Women Rights Coordinator ActionAid Uganda, women should come on board and get involved in the decision making in the mining sector.“We need to have gender based laws with in this sector. When it comes to the employment pattern, the conditions where they work are critical; they lack protective gears from dangerous chemicals substances, they don’t have the entitlements provided for by the law like maternity leave, the wages are  really wanting. These issues and more need to be addressed,” she advised