South Sudanese refugee student dies in Uganda gold mine collapse
A Senior Six student and South Sudanese refugee has died after soil collapsed on him at a gold mining site in Yumbe District.
The deceased has been identified as Peter Mambu, a Senior Six student at Yoyo Secondary School pursuing Geography, Economics and Agriculture (GEA), and a resident of Yoyo in Zone Three of Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement.
The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon at Koro River, one of the gold mining sites in Yoyo Zone Three.
According to residents, Mambu had gone to the site to mine gold when soil above the pit collapsed on him. Attempts to rescue him were unsuccessful.
Margret Diria, a neighbour, said she saw the soil collapse but did not initially know someone was inside.
“I saw the soil collapsing but didn’t know there was someone. However, after some while I saw people running, so I also went. However, we couldn’t rescue him at the moment; he had already suffocated,” she explained to Monitor on Monday.
Hamim Vuni, the head teacher of Yoyo Secondary School, confirmed the death and described Mambu as a humble student.
“We have 1,500 students, out of these 94 are S6 registered students. He was amongst the hardworking students. He was our S6 student,” he observed.
Hamim said the school was making arrangements to ensure the student receives a decent burial.
He, however, said many students engage in gold mining to raise money for school fees and other educational requirements.
“Over 90 per cent of them do this because they want to continue with education, and they are not getting that support. They now look for where they can work and get money; others go and dig,” he said.
Emmanuel Ngota, the Welfare Refugee Council 3 (WRC3) chairperson, highlighted that Mambu had gone to the mining site because schools were due to reopen for the 3rd and final term of the 2026 academic year on Monday.
“He went there to get some gold, sell, to support himself and his education,” Ngota said, noting that the mining site had become an important source of livelihood for refugees amid food cuts, economic hardship and prolonged drought.
“There is serious lack of food, so the entire community has been depending on the gold from that mining site,” he told Monitor.
Ngota said the mining activities were illegal and had not been authorized by the local government, but remained an important source of livelihood for many residents.
“Almost half of the population, including children and the elderly, engage in the gold mining activity in that area,” he said.
Ngota said Mambu’s death was the fourth reported incident in recent times at the same mining site involving people being trapped after soil collapsed.
Last year, he said, two people were trapped in separate incidents but were rescued.
“Then yesterday, the unfortunate happened; there was no one nearby who could rescue the deceased,” he said.
Following the latest incident, Ngota said community members had temporarily been stopped from accessing the site as local leaders engage authorities on safer mining practices.
“Immediate action has been taken as we engage the local government on how people can work properly without experiencing issues of accident,” he said.
However, he said the decision had created another challenge because many families depend on mining for food.
“But if we stop them from going for gold mining, how will they feed their households? Farming has not been fruitful. They have not harvested anything from their farming, food has been cut,” Ngota observed.
He emphasized that refugee leaders would engage UNHCR, the Office of the Prime Minister and other stakeholders to find a lasting solution.
Police warn over illegal mining
The incident comes amid a government crackdown on illegal mining activities across the country.
Last month, Julius Tusigwire, the head of the Mineral Police Unit, said more than 15 illegal mining sites had been closed as part of efforts to combat illegal mining, prevent mineral smuggling and maintain law and order.
Tusigwire also said 10 people had died in accidents linked to illegal mining activities in the country.