By Lake Zone Watch Writer
North Mara Gold Mine has disbursed Tsh 2.1 billion to five nearby villages as royalty for the third quarter of year 2024.
The beneficiary villages with their monetary gains in brackets are Genkuru (746,461,112), Nyangoto (581,176,695), Kerende (454,221,570), Nyamwaga (225,997,310) and Kewanja (98,350,773).
According to North Mara Gold Mine General Manager, Apolinary Lyambiko, the company has so far dished out to the villages royalty amounting to Tsh 4.471 billion between April 2023 and September 2024.
Dummy cheques for the Tsh 2.1 billion royalty were presented on Monday to representatives of the five villages by Minister of Community Development, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, who was chief guest at the climax of national celebrations to mark 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The minister praised the North Mara Gold Mine management, saying the disbursement of the royalty funds would greatly improve social services and the welfare of the people in the five recipient villages.
North Mara is one of the country’s largest gold mines operated by Barrick Gold in partnership with the government of Tanzania through Twiga Minerals.
Tarime Rural Member of Parliament, Mwita Waitara, who was also present at the event, urged village leaders to involve villagers on the use of the funds towards beneficial development projects.
Chairpersons of the five villages which received the royalty money thanked the North Mara Gold Mine for strengthening good neighbourly relations.
“The mine has consolidated relations with our villages through sports events and supporting socio-economic development projects,” said Zakaria Machage, the Nyangoto village chairman.
On his part, the Genkuru village chairman, Elias Juma, thanked the gold mine leadership for the financial support, promising to involve fellow villagers in the implementation of beneficial projects.