In a stunning revelation that made headlines across the world, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni announced on June 7th during his State of the Nation address that the country had discovered gold reserves worth a staggering $12.8 trillion. That's right — 31 million metric tonnes of gold-bearing ore, with an estimated 320,000 metric tonnes of pure extractable gold, buried beneath Ugandan soil.
Museveni confidently stated that officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development had briefed his cabinet on the discovery, claiming the country stood to earn at least $700 million in royalties. For a nation grappling with development challenges, this was not just news — it was a potential economic revolution.
Excitement swept across the nation, but not everyone was buying into the golden dream. Skepticism quickly followed, from both within Uganda and abroad. Mining experts and geologists began to question the numbers.
Alex Kwatampora Binego, president of the Geological Society of Uganda, called the figures “weird.” He explained that such massive quantities of gold would be historically unprecedented and insisted the company behind the analysis — Wagagai Mining Uganda Limited — needed to clarify the data. The fact that Wagagai is Chinese-owned, and the analysis was possibly conducted in Mandarin, raised questions about translation errors or misinterpretation.
Don Bwesigye Binyina, a mineral and energy policy analyst, dropped a bombshell: according to U.S. Geological Survey data, only about 244,000 metric tonnes of gold have ever been discovered globally. If Uganda’s numbers are accurate, that would mean it alone holds more gold than the rest of the world combined — 115 times more, to be exact. Is that even possible? Or did the President confuse ounces with tonnes?
When journalists from The Independent tried to verify these figures with Uganda’s Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines, officials were evasive. One senior official admitted that only the Permanent Secretary could speak on the matter, while another quietly revealed that the numbers were likely misinterpreted and still being verified with Wagagai.
All of this unfolds against a tense international backdrop. Uganda is currently under sanctions, and President Museveni has not held back. In a defiant statement, he declared that Uganda will not export raw minerals — not now, not ever — and only over his dead body. That means refining, processing, and developing Uganda’s mineral wealth must happen within the country, on Uganda’s terms.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional president of Burkina Faso, has done this before. Traore took a bold and unprecedented steps to reclaim control over his country's gold resources. This move is part of a broader national strategy aimed at asserting economic sovereignty, ending foreign exploitation, and redirecting the country’s natural wealth to benefit the Burkinabè people. Gold is Burkina Faso’s most valuable export, accounting for over 70% of national export revenues. Yet for years, the majority of this wealth has flowed out through foreign-owned mining companies, leaving little behind for the local population and the state.