Uganda Gives Defaulting Mining Firms 14 Days to Pay or Lose Their Licences

Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has given mining licence holders 14 days to settle outstanding fees or risk losing their licences and being prosecuted. The notices, reported by the Daily Monitor on 15 October, are signed by Permanent Secretary Irene Bateebe and come with published lists of licence holders who defaulted between July 2023 and July 2026.

The amounts owed fall under three heads: annual mineral rents, royalties and late lodgement fees. According to the lists as reported, Kilembe Mines has eight annual mineral rent entries of Shs325 million each, totalling Shs2.6 billion. Woodcross Mining has five entries of Shs400 million each, or Shs2 billion in all. Kisita Mining is listed with three entries of Shs87.2 million each, totalling Shs261.6 million, while Ascort Mining has five entries adding up to Shs600.1 million. Kifaru Holdings is listed with combined entries of Shs504.2 million, and Prosper Woodworks with two late lodgement entries totalling Shs461.65 million.

One name stands out. The state-owned Uganda National Mining Company appears on the list too, with four mineral rent entries totalling Shs46.5 million. Ministry spokesperson Dr Patricia Litho told the paper that the government had reminded the companies repeatedly to pay without success, and that public ownership is no defence. In other words, the same rule is being applied to a state company as to private operators.

The Daily Monitor adds a note of caution about the figures. The notices do not make clear whether each listed entry is a separate debt, or when payments first fell due. That matters for anyone trying to read the lists as a precise measure of what is owed, and it is a reminder that the headline numbers are the ministry's own presentation of the arrears.

For readers following environmental, social and governance performance in extractives, the story is about the basics of licence compliance. A licence to mine is also a licence to use shared land, water and mineral wealth. Rents and royalties are one of the main ways that value reaches the public purse, and unpaid ones weaken the revenue that governments depend on to fund oversight, restoration of mined land and services for host communities. Publishing the lists of defaulters, with names and sums attached, is a step towards the kind of transparency that investors and civil society increasingly expect.

The two-week deadline will be the test. A licence that is withdrawn after a clear warning shows that the rules carry weight, while a deadline that quietly passes would teach operators that arrears carry little risk. How the ministry handles the state-owned company will be watched closely, since consistent treatment is what gives such an enforcement drive credibility.

The wider context is a country preparing for a larger role in energy and resources, where confidence in institutions will shape how much responsible investment arrives. Clear, predictable enforcement of existing obligations is a lower-cost way to build that confidence than new rules alone. What happens when the 14 days end will show whether the lists were a one-off warning or the start of steadier discipline in the sector.

Why it matters

Rents and royalties are how mineral wealth reaches the people who live beside the mines. When they go unpaid, the money for oversight, land restoration and community services is missing. Pressing for payment is a practical step towards making mining benefit the country, not just the licence holder.