Ubuntu Mwezi

By Stephen Nuwagira The discovery of minerals or oil and gas in any country excites citizens and leaders because confirmation of commercially-viable quantities of the resource could be a harbinger of an improved economy and livelihood.But problems come when law-makers draft policies that do not properly guide on the use the money accruing from the resource or how to exploit the resource sustainably.  This has led to destruction of the bio-diversity in resource-rich areas and betrayal of the citizens’ expectations as communities in these areas continue to wallow in poverty, with poor social amenities and low standards of living. Such a situation is what is being experienced by the Teberebie community in Nsuaem, Tarkwa constituency in Ghana’s gold-rich Western region, and could rear its ugly head in Uganda’s resource-rich regions if the Government does not ensure sustainable exploitation and proper use of oil returns. Although Ghana started mining gold in the area decades a

By Stephen Nuwagira in Accra, Ghana Uganda should constitute a committee of eminent Ugandans to monitor how oil money will be used when production starts. Citing Ghana, MP Theodore Ssekikubo said the committee would work as a third oversight layer to ensure that oil cash is spent according to plan and guard against misuse by the Government. Ssekikubo was addressing the Summer School on governance of oil, gas and mining revenues at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration in Accra, Ghana over the weekend. Hon Ssekikubo He lauded Ghana for allowing civil society participation in monitoring oil revenue, saying this ensures that the interests of the ordinary citizens are catered for. The Ghanaian oil law provides for an independent committee of eminent citizens, the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), which works as an oversight body over the way oil revenue is used by the government. Ssekikubo challenged civil society organisations in Ugan

By Stephen Nuwagira in Accra, Ghana The rise in oil and mineral prices and the expansion of new discoveries in recent times present an unparalleled opportunity for Africa’s resource-rich economies to transform themselves. Dr. Joe Oteng–Adjei, the Ghanaian energy minister, said it was sad that Africa’s resource-rich economies were the least diversified, with weak growth, higher rates of poverty and inequality than non-mineral dependent economies at similar levels of income. “The extraction of gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese and oil has over the years has made very little impact on the transformation of the economies in Africa. Most of the affected communities are plagued with issues of environmental degradation, unemployment, poverty and other social vices. One wonders whether the continuous extraction of such minerals have any meaning to them,” Oteng-Adjei noted. He added that while some countries like South Africa, Botswana, Chile, Malaysia and Indonesia have succeeded in

Lessons from Ghana's first oil journey

By Stephen Nuwagira The ownership wrangle for the Kirwa wolfarm mine in Kisoro has taken a new twist with economic planning and monitoring state minister Henry Banyenzaki, saying Kirwa Wolfram Mines Limited owner Sebuhingiriza Rwabiti, should not have been barred from accessing his property at the mine. The properties include houses, a car, generators, mining equipment, office furniture and household items, which Rwabiti was stopped from accessing when the mine was gazette as a government protected area in August. Kirwa Wolfram Mines operated the mine said to be the biggest wolfram mine in Uganda for 37 years since 1974. The firm was denied a licence in 2002 under unclear circumstances.  Banyenzaki argued that by denying Rwabiti access to the property or allowing him remove them; the mineral development officials were trampling on his human rights. “Whoever denied him the right to access and shift his property is wrong. It is not right and contravenes his rights as provid