Mathiang Makuach
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Raja County commissioner was accused of allowing the miners from the neighbouring countries—Sudan and the Central African Republic.
The Commissioner of Western Bahr el Ghazal State’s Raja County, accused of allowing illegal mining by foreigners, has blamed his woes on political intolerance, alleging that some SPLM leaders are witch-hunting him because “I belong to SPLM-IO”.
Addison Arkangelo Musa absolved himself of the blame in the mining saga, alleging that the random gold mining activities in Raja had been approved by the state minister of commerce and industry, Akol Majok, since December 2022. He added that the companies involved were not foreign-owned and had employed a large number of South Sudanese, contrary to the initial reports.
“I have not done any accurate census of foreigners, but the number that I know of is 1,245,” he told City Review.
Addison was summoned by the state legislature over the issue after Rangy Payam representative Khamis Daheya raised the matter on the floor of the House. However, he argued that his summons was purely for clarification and not because he had committed a legal violation. He added that political differences equally played a part.
“The second complaint alleged that the gold is being smuggled by aircraft from the area to foreign countries, and that is also not true because all government and opposition forces are present in the area,” he said, as he disputed that claim that 10,000 foreigners had invaded the mines.
He claimed that his accusers were jealous of his development record, but he remains unfazed by the resistance he gets.
“Random mining is not a crime. The second level of random mining is allowed by the state constitution of 2009,” he said, adding, “The purpose was to change the economic conditions of citizens and create job opportunities for them, which requires the use of the resources available like the gold we have in Raja County.”.
According to Addison, he never kept the presence of the miners under wraps, as had been alleged, but he contacted the relevant ministry about the same issue for certifications.
“I addressed the state Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Mining, Akol Majok on July 20, 2022, that there is a group of national gold mining companies that arrived in the county, and he said that these companies are registered at state and national level, have reliable certificates and are going to conduct the survey in Raja, then they will return to sign memorandums of understanding with the concerned state and national authorities,” he added.
He further said, “These five companies, Waco for Trade, Mirror Examination for Trade and Investment, Big Lier for Investment, Katta for Artisanal Mining, and Wari-Com Artisanal mining did not work throughout the whole season because of the rains and other factors.”
The commissioner alleged that the companies started official work in early December last year and were only able to produce 22.2 grams of gold as a preliminary experiment, adding that “they were handed over to the county administration to prove that the area has a gold resource that can be invested.”
The official was accused of allowing the miners from the neighbouring countries—Sudan and the Central African Republic—to invade the mines in Raja without proper documentation.
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