The Ugandan MPs agitation to have Parliament recalled to discuss the country’s controversial oil deals should not be ignored. However, the debate must not be a move to settle political scores but an endeavor to lay a foundation that will see the country’s resources benefit the citizenry.

It is common for top political leaders in African countries with subsurface wealth to marginalize citizenry interests when cutting deals with investors. These opaque deals stir political strife and civil wars in the name of nebulous global ideals such as human rights, democracy and people empowerment as seen in Congo, Sudan and Nigeria, among other countries.

It is urgent that Africa’s leaders build structures that deny individuals freedom to manipulate state power to amass wealth; establish predictable rules in mineral exploitation and wealth creation and ensure that the benefits from respective countries' resources  trickle down to the ordinary citizen. Players in the subsurface wealth industry will find interdisciplinary discussions in “Geological Resources and Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa” handy on driving Africa to this direction.