Concerns over unpaid salaries have emerged among former workers of Kilembe Mines Limited as the company begins the process of winding up its operations in Kasese District.
The concerns follow the revelation that the company’s mining licence has been transferred to Sarrai Group Limited, which is expected to take over mining activities at the historic Kilembe mining site.
Hon Gerald Kasigwa Bihemaiso, the vice-chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development, said Kilembe Mines Limited is currently winding up but still has several outstanding obligations to settle.
Kasigwa said one of the company’s obligations is to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in the form of annual mining licence fees.
However, he said the most pressing concern raised by the local community is the failure by the company to pay some of its former employees.
“A number of local people were employed by Kilembe Mines, but unfortunately, they have not been paid their salaries. This is one of the outstanding obligations that the committee discovered,” Kasigwa said.
Speaking to journalists at the Kilembe mining site in Kasese Town on Monday, Kasigwa said the company’s management should engage the affected workers and other concerned parties to find a way of settling the outstanding payments.
He said the issue needed to be addressed before the company completes the winding-up process.
CUE IN KASIGWA….ON KILEMMBE MINE….ENG//
Richard Bumera, the Bulembia Division LC3 chairperson, where Kilembe Mines is located, said many families were struggling to survive after working for months without receiving their salaries.
Bumera appealed to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and Kasese District authorities to intervene before the company fully exits the area.
He said failure to settle the workers’ dues could worsen the financial difficulties facing families that depended on the mine for their livelihoods.
CUE IN BUMERA….ON UNPAID SALARIES….ENG//
Kilembe Mines Limited, a former copper mining company in Kasese, has been undergoing changes in its operations, with the mining licence now reportedly transferred to Sarrai Group Limited.
Attempts to get a comment from Kilembe Mines Limited management about the unpaid salaries and other outstanding obligations were still ongoing by press time.
