{"id":15167,"date":"2025-08-18T13:33:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ugandaupdatenews.com\/?p=15167"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:58:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T14:58:32","slug":"president-museveni-commissions-wagagai-gold-refinery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/president-museveni-commissions-wagagai-gold-refinery\/","title":{"rendered":"President Museveni Commissions Wagagai Gold Refinery In Busia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Zulfah Namatovu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

in Busia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Museveni has commissioned the Wagagai Gold Mining Project in Busia district, describing it as a transformative milestone that will end the wasteful export of raw minerals and usher Uganda into a new era of value addition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the commissioning, the president congratulated Wagagai Mining (U) Co. Ltd. for establishing a state-of-the-art refinery capable of producing 99.9% pure gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that for decades Uganda only exported blister copper, which was not pure enough for direct use and had to be refined abroad before being re-imported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He said this cycle was a loss to the country and praised Wagagai for being able to purify gold to 99.9% purity. \u201cI want to thank Wagagai for listening to my message from the beginning and fully processing the gold. Uganda will get more money,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president cautioned that exporting raw materials amounts to cheating Uganda and urged artisanal miners to work with Wagagai so that their gold can be refined locally instead of being sold unprocessed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He added that refined gold can now be used in jewellery, electronics, and other industries, and thanked Wagagai for being a \u201cresidential teacher\u201d by helping others learn from its example. \u201cWhen you export unprocessed minerals, you are cheating Uganda,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Museveni also thanked the government of China for its continued support to Uganda, citing not only investors like Wagagai but also infrastructure projects financed through soft loans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called on Ugandans to recognize that there is a time for everything and that now is the time to utilize natural resources responsibly.
Museveni stressed that money from non-renewable minerals and oil should be invested in permanent assets such as durable power stations and the railway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis mineral money must give us permanent and most durable assets in order to wake up in the minerals sector, we must have full value addition for all minerals like gold, lithium, tin among others and that is because we get more money, it creates more jobs, and it consumes more electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ambassador of China to Uganda, Zhang Lizhong, thanked the president for officiating at the launch and commended Uganda for fostering a conducive investment environment that has allowed Chinese companies to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the project is not only a symbol of China\u2013Uganda friendship but also a driver of industrial progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth Nankabirwa, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, said the Wagagai Gold Mining Project reflects the government\u2019s objective of promoting local value addition and job creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c This project aims at enhancing local value addition, creating jobs and boosting Uganda’s economy, aligning with the NRM Manifesto, Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan\u201d. She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor:msserwanga@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Zulfah Namatovu in Busia President Museveni has commissioned the Wagagai Gold Mining Project in Busia district, describing it as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/mu8.jpg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15125,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/president-museveni-to-launch-wagagai-gold-mine-and-refinery-in-busia-on-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":15167,"position":0},"title":"President Museveni To Launch Wagagai Gold Mine and Refinery In Busia On Saturday","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"August 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Zulfah Namatovu The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has announced the launch of the Wagagai Gold Mine and Refinery in Busia District, a $150 million investment by Wagagai Mining (U) Limited. This state-of-the-art facility will refine gold to 99.99% purity and produce up to 1.5 tons annually, positioning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3c0e1d5fc5d74a348fc5bf040313357b.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3c0e1d5fc5d74a348fc5bf040313357b.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3c0e1d5fc5d74a348fc5bf040313357b.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/3c0e1d5fc5d74a348fc5bf040313357b.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4220,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/state-minister-for-minerals-hon-lokeris-commissions-wagagai-gold-mining-uganda-project-in-busia\/","url_meta":{"origin":15167,"position":1},"title":"State Minister for Minerals Hon. Lokeris Commissions Wagagai Gold Mining Uganda project in Busia","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"October 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"By Sierra Ruth Arinaitwe The Minister of State for Mineral Development Hon. Peter Lokeris has officially commissioned a gold mining project being undertaken by \u00a0Wagagai Mining (U) Limited, aat Alupe gold field in Busia District. Hon Lokeris said that the Wagagai Gold project being implemented by Wagagai Mining (U) Limited\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business"","block_context":{"text":"Business","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/business\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/loke.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/loke.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/loke.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/loke.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/loke.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5227,"url":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/nankabirwa-cautions-mining-companies-against-abuse-of-employees-human-rights-and-environmental-destruction\/","url_meta":{"origin":15167,"position":2},"title":"Nankabirwa cautions mining companies against abuse of employee\u2019s human rights and environmental destruction","author":"UgandaUpdate","date":"March 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Sierra Ruth Arinaitwe The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Hon Ruth Nankabirwa has cautioned mining companies in Eastern Uganda to observe their employee\u2019s safety at all times while on duty and to practice sustainable exploitation of minerals. 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UAE-based Alpha MBM Investments will have a 60% stake in the oil refinery to be built in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "National News"","block_context":{"text":"National News","link":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/category\/national-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/uae.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/uae.jpg 1x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/uae.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/uae.jpg 2x, https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/uae.jpg 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0aOV-3WD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15167"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15183,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15167\/revisions\/15183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prowebinhost.com\/anzu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}