The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) is pushing for a Bill to regulate sand mining in the country.
Permanent Secretary Eng Irene Bateebe says a review of the Constitution reveals that sand is excluded from the definition of minerals, and is treated as "a building substance".
"As a ministry, we are sponsoring the Building Substances Bill that should be in Cabinet during this quarter ending September 2026, where we are prescribing arrangements for better regulation of sand as a building substance," Eng Bateebe said during a ministerial policy briefing on mineral licensing in Kampala on Friday.
"Later on, once this Bill is approved at Cabinet and Parliament, we will brief Ugandans on its key provisions. We have undertaken extensive consultations on the Bill, and hope that different groups have had an opportunity to contribute to that discussion," she added.
Eng Bateebe's pronouncement comes after government temporarily deferred granting new mineral rights, licences and permits for a period of one month, with immediate effect.
Energy Minister Dr Monica Musenero says the measure is to assess the status of existing licenses, strengthen Uganda's mineral licensing framework, and position the sector to attract credible investment.
However, Mineral Export Permits for minerals that have been processed and value-added to prescribed purity levels, renewal of existing licences, and permission to export mineral samples for testing will not be affected.
Commissioner for Mines Ms Agnes Alaba said while granting artisanal mining licenses, they consider purely Ugandans, who are restricted to rudimentary tools.
"Artisanal mining involves the use of simple, rudimental tools like axes, among others, and they (artisanal miners) should not exceed a depth of 10 metres because of the nature of the equipment they are deploying," she said.
On the status of Kilembe Mines, Eng Bateebe said government is piloting the first model production sharing agreement where it engaged Sarai and Nile Fiber Board, with the National Mining Company holding 15 percent state participation.
"Right now, one year later or one-and-a-half years later, we are supporting the Kilembe Mines to put in place the preliminary requirements, access the licenses, ensure that they are mobilising the funding required through their different partners," she said.
"In their work programmes, we have given them targets to ensure that they move swiftly to mobilise during this year to get on ground (in Kilembe, Kasese District), and ensure that those works progress," she added.
In March 2025, the Ministry championed a new arrangement under the Mining and Minerals Act 2022, promoting the model production sharing agreement to improve government value from the mineral sector.Under this model, the private sector is allowed to enter a partnership with the Uganda National Mining Company (UNMC), similar to petroleum where TotalEnergies and CNOOC are in a joint venture with UNOC.
Eng Bateebe said they are confident that in this partnership, working with Sarai, they shall advance the project that she described as "extremely critical", especially for the energy transition.
Government's tenfold growth strategy aims to grow GDP from nearly $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040, driven by Agriculture, Tourism, Mineral Development (Oil and Gas), and Science, Technology and Innovation, collectively referred to as ATMS.
