Uranium mining in Malawi?

Am very excited today with the news that in my home country, Malawi, some civil society groups have withdrawn legal proceedings against an Australian uranium mining company, Paladin, and the Government of Malawi. The civil society groups were protesting on the way the mining concession was awarded to Paladin. They were alleging, among other issues, that there were no proper consultations regarding environment risks associated with uranium mining.

I was not very surprised to learn that the civil society groups had dragged the government of Malawi and Paladin to court. This is because it seems that it has become a tradition that some civil society groups would like to make "noise" on anything just to show the public that they are "functional" and "working" so that they continue getting donor funds. Hahaha...

Again, it is not a surprise that they have withdrawn their legal challenge. After all, they did not have any justifiable basis for their action. I strongly believe that Paladin has vast experience in uranium mining and as such they already have precautionary safety measures in place for their mining operations. After all, they are also mining uranium in other African countries like Namibia.

With developed countries (including Iran?) looking to alternative sources of energy, uranium is proving to be a big "hit". Malawi therefore stands to boost its GDP through this mining alternative. Malawi has the natural resources and these God given resources need to be exploited for the benefit of Malawians. Much as we appreciate that we have an agricultural-based economy, we need to pursue other viable alternatives so that maybe we may graduate from the class of "least developed countries" on planet Earth. Why should we be poor when God has given us the resources?

By the way, it has also been reported in the papers recently that they have also discovered uranium deposits in Kasungu District and gold deposits in Ntcheu District in Malawi.

Mulungu dalitsani Malawi! (God bless Malawi)