Mabira: Museveni is doing evil and he knows it
By Abbey K. Semuwemba
22nd Aug 2011: Mabira forest is back in the news, and this time round, with a seemingly determined President who has vowed to give away part of the forest for sugar cane growing. Speaking as someone who grew up on a farm in Bugerere near Mabira forest, I would have to say that President Museveni doesn’t have a clue about the environment.
His argument that giving away part of Mabira in 2007 would have prevented the current rise in sugar prices is so simplistic. Secondly, his insistence that he will give away Mabira regardless of people’s cries is another confirmation that big people with big power often do evil and know that they are doing it.
Cutting down trees or rain forests, bodes ill for the long-term survival of the human species. Some 25% of the world’s oxygen is generated in the rainforests. As a matter of survival, it is imperative that every resource is not be used up. What use is short-term success if it guarantees long-term failure?
Isn’t it better to implement methods that are good for us now and later? If we lose forests, we lose the fight against climate change. Global warming and increased temperatures are causing higher winds. In this 21st century, we are doing a lot of things to destroy these forests. For instance, we’re ruining rainforests by using too much toilet paper.
For Mabira forest, there was an abrupt forest loss of about 24% between 1976 and 1986 due to encroachers. The encroachers originated from the neighbouring districts of Kamuli and Iganga. The encroachment was however reversed between 1988 and 1989 when all encroachers were evicted. We are now surprised that the same government that oversaw the re-forestation of Mabira is now gearing towards destroying it.
Mabira is a tourist attraction but it cannot continue to generate income with leaders who see it as a cancer to sugarcane production. Mabira is endowed with about 312 trees and shrub species. Approximately 47% of Uganda’s tree species grow in Mabira, including five rare species. There are more than 287 birds including the threatened Nahan’s francolin.
It is suspected that government’s interest in Mabira is mainly timber. The timber companies usually cut down the large, mature trees for their profit and what Museveni is attempting to do is let loose the timber companies to make the environmental decisions for us all.
Both the timber and sugar companies are simply taking advantage of a poor nation with a corrupt system. Which stable country really gives out land like that as if we are a charity? They also pay peanuts to the Basoga who are doing most of the sugarcane growing. But because our people are poor, they still go along with it.
What the government should do is to turn people who already own land around Mabira and the sugar factories into fulltime state-supported sugarcane growers. By transmogrifying such a group of people into market-oriented consumers and labourers in factories, they become sources of profit.
Personally, I still don’t believe that Museveni will risk giving away Mabira. If he does, then what happened on April 12th 2007 will be made to look like a picnic. He has tactically created a situation that takes the heat completely off him over the state of the economy that is in a very bad shape. So people have forgotten other issues and jumped on Mabira.
Anyway, the Mehta family should look for the 17,540 acres elsewhere, and they need to pay for it. It should not be free as it looks now with their current and past demands. In any case, it requires an act of parliament for Museveni to give away this gazetted state land.
I don’t believe that all the current NRM MPs will allow to be used again and again just because the president serves them food and wine whenever they visit him at State House. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
