The Deputy Speaker (DP) Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa has challenged my fellow parliamentarians that it’s time they stopped blaming colonialists more than half a century after independence. He said they may not be responsible for our past, but they are entirely responsible for our future adding that they can no longer hide behind the excuse of colonial history.
He said from the rainforests of the Congo Basin to Nigeria’s oil fields, Ghana’s gold reserves, Tanzania’s rare earth minerals, and the cobalt riches of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa is abundantly endowed with natural resources. Yet, the continent remains mired in poverty. Why does a land so rich remain so poor? This was the central question he attempted to address while closing the 3rd African Regional Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Emerging Global Challenges at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe over the weekend.
He said Africa holds 60% of the world’s arable land and yet, when war erupted in Europe between Russia and Ukraine, the continent faced food shortages. He said we earn little from our minerals because they are extracted and exported in raw form, without local value addition that could create jobs and wealth at home.
He challenged his fellow parliamentarians that it’s time the stopped blaming colonialists more than half a century after independence.
“We may not be responsible for our past, but we are entirely responsible for our future. We can no longer hide behind the excuse of colonial history,” he said.
He added that as leaders, they must work hard every day and work together to reclaim what history denied us: full economic independence and control over our natural resources. Encouraging examples like Botswana and Ghana show that, with transparency and effective mineral management, transformation is possible.
He is glad the President Kaguta Yoweri Museveni has made it clear that no minerals will leave Uganda in raw form. This will enable us as a country to get a fair share. Next is to ensure that funds from these natural resources are ring-fenced for specific services, especially infrastructure development, schools, and health facilities starting with communities where these minerals are extracted.
