Tanzania announced in Parliament in Dodoma last week that the country had huge deposits of the strategic uranium mineral, having been discovered at 20 locations.

The revelation should be great news for Tanzanians and people in the East African Community (EAC) and the SADC economic blocs alike.

The Minister for Minerals and Energy, Mr. William Ngeleja said uranium, which upon processing produces the nuclear materials used in military, medical and eletricity generation activities, will start to be mined from 2011 and thereby earning Tanzania great wealth.

It will be a great plus for Tanzania particularly because it will earn the country huge revenues from exports as it doesn't have the high technology to process it locally, and the material has high demand in developed countries. But it can be utilized locally to generate abundant and cheaper electricit as well.

It will also provide Tanzanian and EAC regional nuclear scientists with an opportunity to learn the high nuclear technology in its extraction, construction of nuclear generators, concentration into uranium rods and generation of electricity.

However, high caution needs to be uppermost in the mind of the government to ensure the country earns fully from the strategic mineral unlike the way it gets from its abundant gold reserves where it earns only 3% while 97% is taken by foreign gold mining companies.

Secondly, government needs to take caution to choose the right mining companies and to control the sale of the strategic mineral so that it does not fall into the hands of trigger-happy countries and rogue groups and thereby threaten global peace. It would be wise to ensure that the firms shouldn't come from countries whose leaderships are prone to provocation of neighbours.

In the case for Tanzania, the nuclear material should be aimed at generating electricity and medical research and use rather than military use. The peaceful utilization will be welcome because over 80% of Tanzanian power is generated from hydro sources. Uganda recently released a similar finding of uranium. This could call for a regional uranium expoiltation startegy. Concerted effort would then dictate a programme that heeds wisdom and has discretion if it is to bear fruit.