Calling for Justice in the Goldfields of Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania is the third largest gold exporter in Africa, thanks in part to the liberalization of the mining sector which started in the early 1990s. Neoliberal mining reforms promised a win-win situation in which government, investors and local host communities would benefit through export earnings, profits, local employment, and corporate social responsibility initiatives (e.g., the building of schools and clinics). While the rising price of gold and foreign investments in mining activities have delivered on some of these promises, many residents in mining regions have not benefited socioeconomically. Worse still, their communities have unjustly borne the brunt of the environmental, social, and public-health costs associated with large-scale mining operations. This paper examines these injustices through research in Geita and Kahama, two of the most active gold mining areas of Tanzania. Drawing on Kuehn's [1] taxonomy of environmental injustice, we detail the negative impacts of mining activities in these communities and describe how residents have developed strategies of resistance as means to obtain reparations. We then explore the political, financial, organizational, and social limitations on these resistance strategies and argue that the social movements associated with mining lack the political space necessary to affect significant changes to structure, quality, and impact of the industry in western Tanzania.

Mineral Wealth and Protest in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…In addition, both of the statistical analyses rely on observational data, which do not allow for determinations of causality. Nonetheless, these findings on the relationship between mineral wealth and contentious activity are consistent with the conclusions of social movement theorists and researchers in other fields such as geography and political ecology, and across countries as diverse as Ghana (Mensah & Oykere 2014), Tanzania (Makene, Emel, & Murphy 2012) and Malawi (Mzembe 2016). Our fieldwork in South Africa’s platinum belt conducted in 2015 also helped confirm the varied motivations and goals pursued by protesters who are located near extractive areas.…”

Local Content

“…The first policy surrounding mining and local content was the 1979 Mining Act. This required licence applications to include a plan for local procurement of goods and services (Makene et al 2012). How well this law was actually enforced remains unclear, as there were few foreign firms engaged in the sector (Lange and Kinyondo 2016).…”

Optimal local content for extractive industries: How can policies best create benefits for Tanzania?

“…The first policy surrounding mining and local content was the 1979 Mining Act. This required licence applications to include a plan for local procurement of goods and services (Makene et al 2012). How well this law was actually enforced remains unclear, as there were few foreign firms engaged in the sector, and mining was dominated by small-scale and artisanal firms (Lange and Kinyondo 2016).…”