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Landlocked Uganda on brink of lockdown as their president contemplates Mabira forest giveaway to Indians
by Joseph Earnest August 16, 2011
Newscast Media KAMPALA, Uganda -- After Uganda endured the Walk-to-Work protests and the violence perpetrated by the police against unarmed civilians, Uganda is once again back in the headlines, this time it has to do with an ecosystem that is about to be destroyed. Mabira forest is one of the fewest surviving rainforests, yet Uganda's president has created a stir by announcing he plans to give away part of the forest to Indians.
Museveni's rationale is that the reason the cost of living including sugar prices are high, is because of Mabira forest. Initially he blamed it on the drought, but Ugandans refused to buy his explanation. He then blamed it on the Walk-to-Work protests alleging that businesses were shut down causing the economy to slow down. The latest reason is Mabira forest, whereby Museveni argues that if the forest is given away to Indians, they will grow sugarcanes, and the output of sugar will increase, causing sugar prices to fall.
Museveni himself does not believe that. The reason why the sugar prices are high is because all sugar factories are hoarding the sugar to create scarcity so they can profit from the high prices. They also are trying to fool Ugandans into believing that only by growing more sugar, will the prices fall, and have undermined the intelligence of Ugandans. The sugar industry is controlled by Indians. This Indian cartel manipulates sugar prices and has successfully convinced Museveni to give them part of Mabira. The only obstacle hindering the deal from being consummated, is the Ugandan citizen as the Daily Monitor reports. (pop-up)
Lack of critical thinking
The greatest problem that plagues most African rulers is their lack of critical thinking. In this previous article, the Tanzanian government wanted to destroy the Serengeti by building a highway across the national park. It took the Germans, to talk sense into them prompting the Tanzanian government to give up their plans. Uganda is now facing the same problem. The government doesn't see the reason in having forests and ecosystems; to them it is just a waste of space that's why they are adamant about giving it away to foreigners. These foreign agents will eventually burn the forest down, destroy the ecosystems, then bulldoze the ground to make room for a sugarcane plantation. For sugarcanes to be planted, the ground has to be flat and the only way that can happen is by using a bulldozer.
The process of leveling a forest using a bulldozer
Museveni is making Idi Amin Uganda's most popular president
The country is now under lockdown. Several thousand troops have flooded the streets of Kampala because right now Uganda is on the brink of experiencing civil unrest. Activists for Change are allegedly planning to protest; traders and merchants whose market was burned down (pop-up) under suspicious circumstances harbor hostile tendencies toward Uganda's government. Currently, the Ugandan citizens, mostly from Buganda kingdom, see the forest giveaway as an encroachment by Museveni on their land. To make it worse, it is being given to foreigners. Ugandans are now asking the question, "Where is Idi Amin when you need him?"
One thing Ugandans are in agreement with is that Idi Amin loved Uganda so utterly, so completely, that he would never contemplate giving away its national treasures to foreign agents. To him it would be treason against the sovereignty of Uganda for anyone to mention the possibility of giving away an inch of any forest reserve. Amin is blamed for expelling Indians yet the whole story is not truthfully told. The expulsion was not mandatory. Idi Amin noticed that Uganda was flooded with Indians who were benefiting from the economy but were sending the profits to overseas accounts, especially London. All Amin wanted was for the Indians to reinvest the money in Uganda in order to grow the economy. The Indians refused, and Amin viewed them as "economic pimps" who were exploiting Uganda for their own personal gain.
An offer was made to the Indians by Idi Amin. He said: "Either your allegiance is to Uganda, the proof which is you become Ugandan citizens and invest your money in your country, or you will have to leave. You have 90 days to make a decision." The Indians chose to leave, because most of them had British passports.
Ugandans are watching their country being stripped, that they now long for the days when leaders stood up to foreign powers. The current government cannot stand up to foreign leaders because they have been compromised through excessive loans and grants, that they are practically enslaved by the engineered indebtedness. Nobody knows what the Indian cartel promised Museveni, but the president has often claimed to be a patriot, yet his actions contradict his claims. Uganda's motto is, "For God and my country," now it seems the motto is, "For God and foreign agents." There is nothing wrong with foreign investment --every country needs commerce to survive, but not at the expense of a country's national treasures or ecosystem.
What's the motivation for tourists?
It is obvious the decision-makers in Uganda do not value tourism, or else they would think twice about the ramifications of this pivotal decision. Mabira forest is the biggest forest reserve in central Uganda and it's one of the few surviving rain forests remaining in Uganda. It is also known for its Ecotourism, harboring in excess of 300 species of birds, many of which are rare; including the Pied Hornbill, Superb Sunbird, Grey Parrot, Crowned Eagle, Black-billed Turacos and the endangered Nahan's Frankolin. There are over 300 plant species, some of which are of medicinal value. After the forests are given away, what next, the national parks and the lakes?
The Egyptians were smart to make sub-Saharan African countries sign a treaty that Egypt would control the Nile and no development would happen along its banks whatsoever. Without such a treaty, there is no telling who would control and divert the Nile, perhaps to a man-made reservoir for the purpose of bottling its water, then selling the bottled water back to the native Africans. You have to give credit to the Egyptians for their ancient wisdom and insight.
All you have to do is take a look at Lake Chad that shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998, accoring to Journal of Geophysical Research, due to mismanagement and overgrazing, causing desertification in the surrounding areas, which resulted into what once was one of the largest lakes in the world, to be reduced to a mere pond.
If the Indian cartel succeeds in convincing the government to give them the forest so they can burn it down, sell the charcoal, then bulldoze it into a flat land and grow sugarcanes, what would motivate any tourist to visit a sugarcane plantation? Museveni will cause racial tensions in Uganda if he continues with his plans. Non-blacks will become targets. Their businesses will also become targets for vandalism and unexplained fires, just like what is happening in London and Israel where buildings are being burned to the ground. If the same happens in Uganda, only Museveni has himself to blame. Add Comments>>
Recap of Walk-to-Work Demonstrations
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