Source: Pulse UG
Minister of State for Minerals, Hon Phiona Nyamutoro has called for more Ugandans to be empowered to join the manufacturing sector.
The Minister said on Friday that the country needs to see Ugandan investors involved in pushing the national industrialization agenda.
“My hope, and that of all of us is that we can be encouraged that even within us as Ugandans we can have a citizen put up a facility like this,” she said.
“Then we can ably speak of value addition as we attract more investors.”
Hon Nyamutoro was speaking at the launch of Uganda’s first-ever tin refining plant, which was officially commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni.
Built in Mbarara district, the factory is owned by Woodcross Resources and boasts of a refining capacity of over 1000 tons annually.
Minister Nyamutoro on the other hand, thanked President Museveni for entrusting her with the “vital docket” as minister of state for minerals.
She also commended her senior minister Hon Ruth Nankabirwa, and colleagues Opolot Okasai and PS Irene Batebe for the support they have rendered her so far.
President Museveni in his remarks described some government officials in the Energy Ministry as “betrayers” for allowing the export of unprocessed minerals
“This is a real betrayal, we were having these rocks exported all this time and yet we have a Commissioner of Minerals. That is a Commissioner of Ignorance,” said the President.
Woodcross Resources is a mining and mineral trading corporation situated in Uganda.
According to Woodcross’s website, their tin refining factory is capable of processing over 1,000 tons of tin each year, and it has a mining license encompassing 40 square kilometers (15 sq miles) in western Uganda.
THE AUTHOR: SAMSON WASWA
