Survival Fate’ or ‘Livelihood Option’? :

Abstract

Uganda boasts of her natural resource wealth by day, and groans over its mismanagement by nightfall! Expectation and suspicion paradoxically typify the state of affairs of Uganda’s natural resource stock; flora, fauna and minerals alike. The establishment of the National Mineral Policy in 2000 gave hope as national commitment to guide mineral exploitation for social and economic development. With it, overcoming mineral resource mismanagement and profitability for the national cause was anticipated. After fifteen years of its existence, this study delved into establishing whether and how the mineral policy has been able to transform the mining sector in Karamoja from a ‘survival ploy’ to a sustainable ‘livelihood option