Mr Robert Kasande, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda informed that the country is migrating to a transparent system for clearing mining licenses to ensure that they are given in a time bound manner and through a less complicated manner. An on-line digital platform is created to fast-track the licensing process, which is alleged to have been in the thick of controversies and opaque systems. The new online system will enable the applicants to submit all details , making payments and to track the progress of the licensing process digitally without any human intervention. In December 2018, a total of 844 mineral licenses were issued to spur the growth of the mining sector, which is also a major foreign exchange earner for the country.
The modernized system will electronically on a real time basis, track how much the license holders owe to the government, when it has to be paid and automatically eliminate all those defaulters from the list taking away their rights to mine. The minister said that the automated system would purge corruption and would pave the way for systematic and scientific exploitation of natural resources of the country.
