Bakouma

Bakouma was founded in September 1892 when the Belgians, led by Commander Georges Adolphe Balat and Captain Georges Le Marinel set up a military post on the site. It became a part of the French Upper Oubangui in July 1894. Bakouma became a district under the French rule in 1944 and on 23 January 1961, the region eventually became a Sous-Préfecture in the Mbomou prefecture in the newly formed Central African Republic.^[3]

The Lengo Petroglyphs are located near Bakouma.

In a uranium survey in 1959–1961, phosphatic sediments were discovered near Bakouma. The phosphates are characterized by their high uranium content, which are the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.^[4] Further feasibility studies showed that in the area, there are 41 million pounds of U₃O₈ with an average grade of 0.27% (which is almost 20 times higher than the resources in Trekkopje, Namibia).^[5] A large concentration of Cretaceous ferruginous limestones has also been found near Bakouma. .

However, commercial exploitation in the area never took off. The French Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA) studied the area, as did Alusuisse in the 1970s, which only came to conduct small scale mining. The Japanese in the 1980s came to the conclusion that any large exploitation would not be commercially viable.

During the 1990s, former political prisoner Jeanne-Marie Ruth-Rolland was elected deputy leader of Bakouma and lead a gold prospector's consortium. She was also active in diamond mining in the area. Following her death, a monument was elected in her honor.

Due to the increasing world market price on uranium, combined with decreasing stocks, the area gained new interest in the mid-2000s. Australian company Paladin Energy expressed its interest in the area, but it never took off. The same thing happened with the Chinese.

Finally, in May 2006, the South African company UraMin invested 90% in a Bakouma uranium project. The remaining 10% is held by the Government. A mining convention was signed, guaranteeing fixed taxes for 25 years. The project consists of ten separate areas of uranium mineralization and the consortium has applied for two additional licenses, which, if granted, would extend the project area to 2,900 square kilometres. A feasibility study that started in August 2006 has drilled some 9,400 meters and indicated that the resource is significantly deeper than previous studies have shown. The production is expected to ramp up from late 2009 and peak in 2010 at 3000 tonnes Per Annum.^[5]

In July 2017 it was reported that Bakouma was under joint control of anti-balaka and FPRC rebel groups.^[6] From December 2018 to January 2019 heavy clashes took place in the city between ex-Séléka militias and government forces resulting in withdrawal of ex-Séléka militias.

Three UN peacekeepers from Burundi were killed in Dekoa and Bakouma on 26 December 2020, one day before the 2020 Central African general election.^[7] On 29 December government forces withdrew from Bakouma after being surrounded by FPRC and UPC rebels.^[8] On 10 May 2021 Bakouma was recaptured by government forces.^[9]

Bakouma is situated on the Gboyo River. In is on the northern end of the Mbomou forest, which has an area of 10.000 km².

When it became clear that the Government was going to allow for a concession of uranium, many voices were heard, mainly from the opposition, claiming that uranium mining in other countries has created much harm to the environment and the population. The Government claimed that this was the words of evil tongues. It said that the bill on the regulation of exploitation of radioactive minerals, which passed the Parliament on 30 August 2006, would protect from any such damage.

UraMin has started to drain the marches on its site.