Mabira Forest deserves to be bailout
The Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Mutebi is ready to lease 7,100 acres of land to The Sugar Corporation of Uganda Ltd (SCOUL) to grow sugar cane and save Mabira forest from annihilation. The question remains whether the government will accept the Kabaka’s proposal to bailout the forest or not. SCOUL is a joint venture between Mehta group and the government of Uganda. There has been a public controversy since the sugar corporation requested President Yoweri Museveni for 7,100 acres of the Mabira Forest for sugar production that the government is considering giving a way. The public outcry is that why Mabira and not else where. This forest has lived for over 60 years with uncountable birds reptiles and other insects, its medicinal value among other ecological usefulness to the nation. Will the coming generation be told the story of Mabira forest as history. Environment Minister Maria Mutagamba has prepared a cabinet paper asking for the permission to degazette Mabira Forest amidst overwhelming protest form the public and environmental institutions. Uganda is a signatory to the convention on biological diversity that imposes to the responsibility on the contracting parties to protect such animals in their natural environment and help communities to benefit from them through tourism. The country is even referred to as the pearl of Africa mainly because of its natural endowments.