The Sukulu Phosphate Project, operated by a subsidiary of China's Guangzhou Dongsong Energy Group, is one of Uganda's most strategically important industrial mineral investments. It is also, according to residents of neighbouring parishes, one of the most contentious.
Community petitions submitted to the district environment officer in 2023 raise repeated concerns about dust from haulage roads, water discoloration in seasonal streams and the long-term management of tailings. Residents are asking for independent, publicly published monitoring rather than reports circulated only between the company and central government.
Uganda's National Environment Management Authority has powers under the 2019 environment law to require exactly that kind of transparency. Whether it is willing to use them consistently at a project of Sukulu's political weight is one of the tests UMT will be watching in the year ahead.