Authorities in Namayingo district have banned illegal gold mining in the area.
This ban follows the death of six miners who were buried alive as they went on digging in the deep pits in search of gold in the past six months.
The Namayingo resident district commissioner, Joram Mayatsa said in an interview on Monday that he has instructed anyone who wants to continue with the mining of gold to seek permission from the ministry of energy and mineral development.
Mayatsa says the owners of the illegal gold mines were recruiting young children below the age of 16 to work as casual labourers in the mines contrary to the law.
He said anyone found to be violating the law and continuing to carry out the mining risks being arrested and prosecuted.
Mayatsa said over 500 children dropped out of universal primary education in the district last year in order to work as casual labourers in the illegal gold mines.
The district education officer, Kawo Nayi Kawere, says the most affected areas are the sub counties of Buyinja, Buswale and parts of Namayingo town council. He says he has instructed all head teachers in the affected areas to establish the exact number of pupils who have so far dropped out of universal primary education this year in order to work in the illegal mines.
Most of the children are employed to do the transporting of soil in order to be extracted to establish gold particles. Some of them work in the grinding machines and are paid between 5000 to 10,000 shillings depending on the day’s work.
Kawere says most of the pupils who dropped out of school in order to work in the mines were simply lured by friends after discovering that they were earning a living.
He said the worst affected schools are Namavundu, Bugoma, Kifuyo and Nsango.
