- Ugandan authorities have scrapped a project meant to sacrifice Africa's last pluvial habitats [Mabira Forest] to Mehta Group, an Indian company that owns Sugar Corporation of Uganda.
“We have committed ourselves to conserving Mabira Forest”, Ugandan Minister of Finance, Ezra Suruma, allayed fears.
Suruma divulged the news in Guyana during a dinner hosted by President Bharrat Jagdeo. Ugandan minister was attending the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting on climate change in Guyana.
Uganda's Environment Minister, Beatrice Anywar Atim, who has been campaigning for the conservation of Mabira rain forest, received the news with delight.
“Wow, that is really good news for me and congratulations to the whole country. We must thank the government for listening to the voice of the people”, she said.
Attempts to transform a fourth of the Mabira rain forest into a sugarcane estate that will be used as a source of energy production had resulted to violent protests that claimed the lives of six people [five Ugandans and one Indian].
The issue became so tense that rights groups and religious bodies have asked the government not to go ahead with sacrificing Mabira Forest without sampling the opinions of the citizens through a referendum.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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