Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

{Rainbow Rare Earths (LON:RBW) had a spectacular debut on the London Stock Exchange Monday as the newcomer raised 8 million pounds ($10 million) to dust off and restart the Gakara mine in Burundi.}

The company, which only project is the former mine in the landlocked east African country, expects to begin sales to Germany’s Thyssenkrupp before the end of the year, it said in the statement.
This as the project has a 10-year distribution and offtake agreement with a division of Thyssenkrupp to take 100% of production up to 5,000 tonnes and the option to take anything above that.

Gakara, which operated for 30 years until 1978, holds some high-grade rare earth elements, including lanthanum, cerium and neodymium, which are expected to become essential for the manufacturing of batteries, magnets and electric vehicles.

It is also a very cheap project — with only $2.23 million of required capital expenditure and low production costs.

“Beyond the extremely high-grade ore and low-capital expenditure associated with the initial development of the project, the company also benefits from strong support for the development of Gakara, both from the Burundi government and the local community,” CEO Martin Eales said in the statement.

“Our project boasts an in-situ grade in the range of 47-67 percent TREO (total rare earth oxide), making it one of the highest-grade rare earth element (REE) projects globally,” he added.

During an initial two-year trial phase the project is expected to generate around 3,900 tonnes of concentrate before ramping up to 5,000 tonnes per year. First production from the mine is expected in the fourth quarter of the year.

Rainbow’s shares were placed at 10 pence per share. They opened at 10.75 pence, hit a session high of 12.84 pence and closed at 11.62p.

{He added that the suspects could have been mobilised by people who have been popularising the “Muhoozi Project” with criminal intentions.}

Five youth are being held at Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) for printing posters that depict President Museveni’s son, Maj Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, as 2021 presidential candidate.

Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson Emilian Kayima said the five youth were arrested on Monday morning in possession of posters and press releases explaining how Maj Gen Muhoozi is the eligible presidential candidate in 2021 .

“We arrested the five youth at Kolping Hotel in Makerere. They had posters and press releases. We were tipped off by our intelligence people and we arrested the youth on site,” he said.

Asked whether the suspects were planning to hold a press conference since they had press releases, Mr Kayima said they are yet to know their motive.

“We have them at CPS and they are recording statements. We shall know their intentions in due course,” he said.

Mr Kayima identified the suspects as Mr George Mutumba, a councillor representing Kisowera Zone at Kawempe Division, Mr Twaha Jengo , Mr Abdul Karim Ddamulira, all residents of Kisowera in Kawempe, Mr Hamidu Walakira, a resident of Mulago Parish and a one William, a resident of Makerere Zone III.

Mr Andrew Kaweesi, the police spokesperson, said Maj Gen Muhoozi denied knowledge of the suspects whom he said would be charged with inciting violence, false presentation, and giving false news.

“Maj Gen Muhoozi has told us he has no knowledge about the group. What they have done is regarded as inciting the public and can lead to violence. They would be criminally charged,” Mr Kaweesi said.

He added that the suspects could have been mobilised by people who have been popularising the “Muhoozi Project” with criminal intentions.

“We suspect they have been used by people propagating the Muhoozi presidential project. These imposters shall be prosecuted for their criminal acts,” Mr Kaweesi said.

Maj Gen Muhoozi was early this month moved from the position of commander of the Special Forces Command (SFC) and appointed as a special presidential advisor in charge of operations.

{A last-minute change of the agenda and the refusal by Uganda, Djibouti and Burundi to vote for Kenya were last evening blamed for the defeat of Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed in the race to become chairperson of African Union Commission.}

Details of the shock trouncing in Addis Ababa on Monday afternoon emerged as Kenyan diplomats came to terms with the loss after an extensive campaign of three months that cost the country about Sh350 million.

Ms Mohamed lost to Chad’s Moussa Faki Mahamat after seven rounds of voting.

The Chadian foreign minister, who had said he would take a bullet for the sake of Africa, became the fourth AUC chairperson from francophone Africa out of five heads since 2002.

Shortly after the vote, he said he did not have “a magic wand” to right the problems the AU is facing — such as shortage of funds and slow responses to crises — saying, instead, that he needed everyone on board to help bring the continent together.

“We will need to get our priorities right. It is a problem, really, because we have not been able to run our organisation properly. We need to come together more than before,” he said.

Mr Mahamat will be deputised by Thomas Kwesi Quartey of Ghana.

Ms Mohamed (55) and Mr Mahamat (56) enjoyed significant support from their regions.

The Chadian was declared the winner after garnering 38 votes in the seventh round.

Fifteen countries from the southern Africa bloc, SADC, abstained.

“We congratulate him on a race well won,” said State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu soon after news of the election results spread from the hall in Addis Ababa.

“We pledge to work with him to defend the pan-African agenda of integration of Africa as well as democracy.”

{{Morocco issue }}

Mr Esipisu continued that he did “not think there is anyone (in Kenya) who cannot be disappointed with this result” and thanked Ms Mohamed “for giving a strong showing”.

But the story of Kenya’s defeat, really, started sometime in the afternoon when Morocco, which had been lobbying to be accepted back in the AU family after three decades out, successfully argued for the debate about its readmission to be postponed.

That meant that the politics surrounding the race would not be mixed with Morocco’s application.

Morocco had quit the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, after it admitted the Sahrawi Arab Republic as a member.

This time, however, the North African country had come back with a clear agenda, promising financial goodies to member states who would accept to kick Sahrawi out of the AU while at the same time allowing Rabat back.

So important was the outcome of the Addis vote to Morocco that, on Sunday, the country’s foreign minister, Mr Salaheddine Mezoua, hosted a dinner in honour of Mr Mahamat, whom Rabat felt would dance to its tune if elected.

With Morocco’s readmission agenda out of the way, delegates had nothing much to do other than concentrate on lobbying and voting.

In the end, Kenya was let down by its neighbours.

{{Decamped }}

During earlier lobbying, Ms Mohamed had been endorsed by eastern African countries, but these pledges were not honoured at the ballot.

Uganda, Djibouti and Burundi voted for Kenya in round 1, helping Ms Mohamed get 16 votes against Mahamat’s 14.

The rest of the votes were split between Botswana and Equatorial Guinea.

In the second round, however, Chad scored 21, Kenya gained just one more vote, and the rest went to the three tailing candidates.

Mr Mahamat, a father of six, extended his lead in the third round of voting, getting 24 votes against Ms Mohamed’s 17. Kenya’s neighbours had decamped.

Kenya gained some momentum from round four, getting 26 against Chad’s 25 after the other candidates were compelled to drop out.

When the vote entered round 5, one country abstained, but Kenya won with 27 votes against Chad’s 26.

The vote entered round six and Chad gained again, collecting 28 votes against 25 for Kenya.

Ms Mohamed had, technically, been defeated, and Mr Mahamat went ahead to garner 38 votes when he ran alone in the seventh round.

The entire SADC region stayed away from the vote, perhaps in protest after their candidate from Botswana failed to make any progress in the preliminary rounds.

SADC had argued they still deserved one more term because the current occupant from South Africa, Ms Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, had chosen not to run for a second term.

{All the 15 miners who were trapped in a mine pit at Nyarugusu for four days and rushed to Geita Regional Hospital here on Sunday were discharged yesterday.}

However, the record treatment speed seemed not to have pleased family members of some of the victims who found the treatment ‘too fast’, wishing they had stayed longer for more observation.

In less than 24 hours of their stay at the medical facility, the youthful survivors looked jubilant and cheerful, thanking the government and other humanitarian organisations for moving so fast to save their lives.

Meeting them as soon as they were discharged, the Geita Regional Commissioner (RC), Major General (retired) Ezekiel Kyunga, commended the hospital’s management for attending to the survivors, who cheated death as they faced starvation inside the 60-metre deep pit.

“We thank God that you are safe after the tragic incident that shocked us all. I am told you received very professional treatment to the point that you are now able to return home healthy once again. I take this opportunity to thank each and every one who participated in this rescue mission,” said the RC.

According to Maj. Gen. Kyunga, the government has already orderd a five-day closure of the mine, which is co-owned by a Chinese investor, RZ Union and a Tanzanian, Mr Ahmed Mbaraka, pending investigations on what could have been the real cause behind the accident and possible remedial measures.

The RC said the Nyarugusu Mine incident, which had the whole nation worried, has prompted the government to plan a crackdown on the state of operations by all small and medium mines in Geita Region as soon as possible.

He was quoting the directives issued by Deputy Energy and Minerals Minister, Dr Medard Kalemani, who visited the region following the Nyarugusu incident on Sunday.

Another tough action by the government will fall on mining investors in the region, who will now be required to offer reliable contractors to their workers, which, among others, will enable the enactment of clear clauses on compensation in case of occupational hazards in mining operations.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, one of the survivors, Mr Anicet Masanja, said they managed to survive for almost four days thanks to the rocky and ventilated chambers inside the pit that prevented sand from falling on them as they struggled to negotiate their way out.

“Had it not been for the structure of the pit and improved infrastructure, a different story would have been told today. Overall, we thank God for the miracle as well as efforts by the regional hospital and other rescue efforts to save our lives,” Mr Massing further said.

But while the miners were celebrating their discharge from hospital, some of their relatives were highly concerned that the discharge was fast-tracked.

They were of the view that they still needed more time for observation. Ms Rosemary Dismas, whose brother Cosmas Mussa, was involved in the mine tragedy, told the ‘Daily News’ that she was not involved in the consultations before discharging her relative from hospital, claiming that the cheerfulness showed by the victims was not genuine at all. She said the miners’ relatives have doubts that their boys were not fit enough to resume mining operations since they were still unfit – both emotionally and psychologically.

However, the claims and worries over the health status of the victims were refuted by the hospital’s Medical Officer In- Charge, Dr Brian Mawala and the Geita Regional Medical Officer, Dr Yusuf Kisala, who said they were confident before they reached to the decision to have the survivors discharged. Initially, according to him, the victims had suffered normal starvation and difficulty in breathing in the pit and did not accompany any physical injuries or trauma.

He said since they managed to get fresh air and later served with food while in the pit, they garnered enough strength to be put under observation, instead of being given full medical treatment.

“Clinically, they were in more or less stable condition upon arrival – hence putting them under observation and support treatment. We ask the relatives to be calm while victims undergo full recovery from the shock,” he pleaded.

But despite showing massive improvement, Dr Kisala said it was crucial that the survivors get complete rest for at least two weeks. Apart from Dr Kalemani, the Commissioner for Mines, Mr Ally Samaje, is also here and was scheduled to visit the Nyarugusu Mine site to check the situation and monitor the government directives on the matter.