Regional experts meet over illegal mining

Legal experts from member states of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) are meeting in Kampala, today, to identify how states can achieve the incorporation of the protocol on the illegal exploitation of natural resources into their respective national laws.Rwanda is a member of the Bujumbura based 11-member intergovernmental organisation.During the Special Summit of ICGLR Heads of State on the fight against Illegal exploitation of natural resources in Lusaka 2010, states committed themselves to domesticate the protocol against the illegal exploitation of natural resources in their respective countries.They also committed to implement the six tools of the Regional Initiative on Natural Resources (RINR) including the tool of legal harmonisation.“Several member states have already commenced the process of reviewing their mining legislation in order to incorporate the respective provisions into their national legal framework,” reads an ICGLR statement sent to The New Times yesterday.At the meeting, the drafted “Model Law” for the domestication of the protocol will be presented where experts will follow up on the harmonisation process and seek to provide a platform to support the commitments of the member states.The experts will also exchange information on relevant national laws and policies including those governing mineral resources as well as other related provisions such as police law, criminal law etc in the different ICGLR member states.The technical consultants will also identify gaps and other needs in order to make the obligations applicable and enforceable domestically.The ICGLR workshop, to attract about thirty participants is supported by German Technical Cooperation (GIZ).

National

Regional experts meet over illegal mining