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The government in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Authority has assigned over $35 million for upgrading Kasese Aerodrome.

This was disclosed by the Deputy Managing Director of Civil Aviation Authority, Mr Rama Makuza, during the unveiling and awarding ceremony of certificates to Ugandan and Italian expeditors, who climbed Mountain Rwenzori, at the Uganda Museum last week.

Makuza said the Civil Aviation Authority had premeditated to progress the aerodrome in phases for five years, but the government had intervened to speed up the exercise because of the Commonwealth heads of state meeting next year.

He said that there is need to work hand in hand with UWA to develop infrastructure to boost tourism in Mountain Rwenzori and Queen Elizabeth among other tourist resorts

It is anticipated that the Queen of England during her visit to the country next year may visit the park.
Among the developments on the field will be inspiring, paving and redesigning of the aerodrome to standards that can accommodate F6 Boeing planes.

Uganda Safari News

The great apes survival projects in conjunction with the Uganda Wildlife Authority and other conservation organisations have organized a three-month exhibition on great apes to create awareness about the primates in Uganda. Uganda has 18 species of non-human primates approx 31% of the African total.

The executive director of UWA, Mr Moses Mapesa Wafula, said the aim of the exhibition is to raise the profile of Apes in Uganda through public awareness of their value, status, current threats and conservation initiatives.

He was speaking at the 21st International Primatological Congress in Entebbe
The conference, with the theme “Primate Conservation in Action”, is the first of its kind in Uganda.
The congress attracted over 100 primatologists around the world.

Mapesa said there are 700 mountain Gorillas in the world and half of them are found in Uganda. “Uganda is also blessed with a total of 5,000 chimpanzees,” he said.
He said apes were faced with extinction due to massive deforestation, the animals’ vulnerability to nature and disease.

The World Atlas of great Apes and their Conservation (2005) shows that approximately 910 square kilometres of forests in Uganda are cleared annually for farmland, mining, charcoal burning and timber.

Apes are animals that bear close resemblance with humans in their physical and biological set up. They include chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys among others.
The organisations opened the exhibition yesterday at the Uganda National Museum.
The exhibition, targeting the public and conservation organisations will go on until September 26.

By Namisi

Uganda Safari News

A retrospective to sensitize the public about gorillas and chimpanzees will open at the Uganda Museum.

Moses Mapesa, the executive director of Uganda Wildlife Authority, said because of the menace to the habitat of the gorillas and chimpanzees, there was urgent need to find ways of shielding them against extinction.

The three-month exhibition by the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) is aimed at hoisting the profile of apes in Uganda through public consciousness of their value, rank and tyranny.

By Namisi

Uganda safari News

Speaking at Imperial Resort Hotel during the opening ceremony of the 21st Congress prearranged by the International primatological Society that brings together more than 1,000 researchers, President Yoweri Museveni has recommend conservationists and primate researchers to support building hydroelectric power dams, saying they would save forests from being cut down for fuel.
Museveni said gorilla tourism contributes 52% to Uganda’s foreign earnings, showing that the government had taken a good step to promote eco-tourism on its conservation and development agenda.
He said it was a haziness to protect endangered animals such as Mountain Gorillas and their habitats in a situation of underdevelopment.

He also said the government had created national parks like Kibale (with the highest density of primates), Rwenzori, Bwindi and Mgahinga that harboured endangered gorillas.

Museveni said there was need to generate hydroelectric power and other renewable sources of energy such as geothermal and solar energy.
Museveni said about 28 billion cubic metres of wood were destroyed annually because of high dependence on wood.
Richard Wrangham, the head of the International Primatogical Society (IPS), said the week-long meeting that started yesterday was the first of its kind in Uganda.
Museveni saluted IPS’s Dr. Jane Goodall, a renowned primate researcher for her conservation efforts.

Jane and Dr. Gilbert Basuta of Makerere University were the key speakers who presented after Museveni.

The conference led a meeting at Budongo forest reserve, which has one of the largest populations of chimps in the country and houses a research station.

BY Namisi

Uganda Safari News

Two weeks ago, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) successfully renewed her concessions contracts with different investors who provide lodging services in the country’s national parks.

Of the seven concessionaires who put pen to paper on the new contracts, two were new but the others have been in the business operating under poorly drawn up contracts that will now be replaced.

Uganda got herself in this situation not by her own accord but because of what happened in the past when the tourism sector went under. To revive it, government understandably gave in to the demands of the concessionaires.

Notable absentees at the signing ceremony were the Muljibhai Madhvani & Company Limited - MARASA, which runs the Mweya, Paraa and Chobe concessions in Queen Elizabeth National Park and Murchison Falls National Park respectively.

Another such concessionaire is Mr. Parvez Malik, the proprietor of Afri Tours and Travel who holds the concession for Sambiya River Lodge in the Murchison Falls National Park.

The reason that MARASA and Afri Tours and Travel were not present to sign on the dotted line that day is their refusal to take on board what was proposed to them in the review of the contracts they hold.

The key issue of contention that those who are opposing change is the reduction of the 25-mile exclusion zones in the vicinity of the lodges. The exclusion zones bar another investor from establishing a comparable structure or facility (like a hotel or lodge) within a radius of 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the existing one.

This 25-mile exclusion zone has been holding back new investments in the parks and people like MARASA are currently involved in a tough tussle with the review committee.

The bad news is that MARASA’s Chobe, Mweya and Paraa agreements have the most unfavourable clauses of any of the concessions, as they are unconstitutional because they purport to give land to MARASA.

The review team has proposed the reduction of the 25-mile exclusion zones to 5 miles but those who are resisting the move are only willing to give in to a 20-mile zone.

With tourism continuing to grow and rake in more millions than some of the traditional export commodities that Uganda is known for, UWA and indeed the government need to streamline the lodge business in the parks for the sector to fulfill its immense potential.

It is against this background that we at Business Week call on MARASA and the others to rethink their stance to bring more competition into the sector. The benefits of such competition will create a multiplier effect that will spur the industry for all, because the lodges will always be full. While the review teams are sure they will finally bring the businessmen and women to the negotiating table, it is not clear how long the fight will go on.

By Namisi

Uganda Safari News

A team of nine Italians and 10 Ugandans climbing Mt. Rwenzori in Kasese District successfully arrived at Nyabitaba Hut, the first camp, on June 13.

The climb is in commemoration of 100 years since the Italian Duke of Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo, became the first European to reach the highest peak on the mountain, on June 18, 1906. The climbers started their journey from Nyakalengijo and covered a distance of 6.4km, to Nyabitaba Hut, where they spent the first night

The Ugandan team that includes UPDF soldiers, is led by Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta, the Deputy Chief Commander and Inspector General of the Armed Forces, while the Italian team is led by Giuseppe Petigax, the great grandson of Joseph Petigax who was the Duke’s guide in 1906.

Giuseppe, 57, was overjoyed on the first day of climbing: “The forest and nature is amazing and unique. But the trek was difficult because it was warm and humid unlike the Alps.

Koreta said since his childhood, he had loved to climb Mt. Rwenzori. He said the exercise will help the soldiers in physical fitness.

Moses Mapesa, the Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority, said the centenary climb holds great significance to Ugandans for the conservation of it s tourism potentials.
Mapesa added that the Abruzzi trail in 1906 was the first scientific and mapping voyage that made the world understand the geology of the mountains, the glaciers and snow and their like.
Mapesa advised East Africans to visit the Rwenzori park once every year because the trails are now designated, unlike in 1906 when the Duke and his porters had to cut through the jungle.

Professional and amateur climbers can climb the Rwenzori. It is a healthy and beautiful experience.

BY NAMISI

Uganda Safari News

Mr Tom Obong Okello Queen Elizabeth National Park’s Senior warden , has said that illegal trade in apes such as monkeys, baboons and chimpanzees at the Uganda -Congo border is high causing a threat to wildlife.

Located 22 kilometres from Congo, the park hosts about 606 species of birds and over 100 species of wild animals. Okello said that the animals are usually smuggled by women, who tie them on their backs like babies and cross from one country to another without the knowledge of customs officials.

He added that recently, a lady from Congo put a monkey on her back and crossed to Uganda to look for market, providentially, UWA officers trapped her when she was still haggling the price with the buyer

He said that Chimpanzees are eaten in Congo, but he was not sure whether Ugandans sell or eat them.

But with the many Congolese refugees settling in Uganda, there is possibility that Ugandans have also learnt to eat them.

An estimated one to five million tones of bush meat is eaten in the Congo Basin every year. Okello told members of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Conservation Trust on June 10 that apart from poaching animals for meat, bush meat is used to make herbs.
Research has showed that primates may transmit diseases like cholera to man and AIDS

Last week American researchers discovered the origin of HIV/Aids in chimpanzees.

Queen Elizabeth National Park is one of the biggest national parks. The park covers about 6 districts of Kanungu, Kamwenge, Kasese, Rukungiri, Ibanda and Bushenyi district.
The goverment should create measure to stop this activity because chimpanzees are some of the best potential attractions that the country has.

BY NAMISI

Uganda Safari News

The Uganda Museum yesterday received an adult stuffed leopard from an animal which had been killed by a poacher, as a donation from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). UWA got the trophy on May 25 after officials intercepted the poacher in Luweero, as he tried to find buyers for the skin. He was allegedly asking for around sh300,000.

The killing of wild animals is an illegal act in Uganda. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Wild Flora and Fauna classes leopards in the most endangered category, and specifically cites poaching for fur as a major cause.

The International Union for the conservation of Nature also classes leopards as “on the verge of extinction”.

UWA’s Damian Akankwasa at the hand-over ceremony in Kamwokya explained that no action was being taken against the poacher, because he was cooperative with officials. Akankwasa, however, vowed to augment public consciousness about the laws surrounding killing animals.
He also added that if an animal is killed in self-defence, it is forgivable, though UWA should be informed.

By Namisi

Uganda safari News

The cultural leader of the Bakonzo/Bamba Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu, Charles Mumbere, has asked Italy and other development partners to help his kingdom’s socio-economic development plans. He asked Italy to implement scholarships in improved mountain utilisation and management, set up a research centre for herbal medicine and to restore the ecosystem in order to preserve the glaciers on the Rwenzoris.

The italian envoy commented that Aid is good but it must be used in the right way in abid to avoid distortions not only in the economy but in culture too.He said this when he was at the Obusingo Royal palace. He disclosed his government’s plans to to install meteorological stations in Kasese to enable the district monitor the ecosystems in the Rwenzori Mountains. Tombaccini said a 10-member team of Italian researchers will be in Kasese late this month to install the facilities to monitor the glaciers and the weather in the Mountains of the moon region. He also disclosed that his government was planning a very large and extensive multi-sectoral development programme to stimulate tourism in the area.

Mumbere also noted that the arrival of modernisation which accompanied the British advent into the Rwenzori region had subjected the Bakonzo to competition to which they must adopt or perish. Mumbere said this in a memorandum he read to a group of Italians who are set to climb Mt. Rwenzori as part of celebrations to mark 100 years since the Italian Duke of Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo de Savoy, became the first European to reach the highest peak on June 18, 1906.

The chairman of the Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu recognition committee, Constantine Bwambale, read the memorandum in Kasese town, in which Mumbere also asked Italy to set up a university and hospital in memory of the Duke of Abruzzi.

He thanked the government for the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and constitutionalism that promotes cultural identity. Mumbere commented that Whereas the Rwenzururu habitat is rich in soils, vegetation, climate and water resources, minerals and a hardworking population, the community is still faced with numerous challenges. He said these challenges included lack of technology, poor telecommunication facilities in the highlands,lack of energy sources to support the local industry, lack of infrastructure to accommodate the various Obusinga organs, lack of funds to secure the cultural sites and set up a museum and the receding snowline.

The Italian envoy commended the Bakonzo for their efforts to preserve their culture warning of the dangers of unchecked foreign aid and modernisation which would lead to bustardization of the culture.

For tourism to develop, there is need for communities to partcipate in preservation which leads to development. Rwenzori mountains is a delicate tourism potential that Uganda has and given the fact that the communities are ready to cooperate in the struggle tp preserve it’s glaciers, tourism development in the area will be enhanced.

BY NAMISI

Uganda Safari News

Centenary celebrations to Mark the first ascent to the summit of the Rwenzori Mountains has started on Friday.

Addressing the press at Mosa Courts apartments in Kampala on Friday, Mr Pietro Tombaccini, the deputy head of mission at the Italian Embassy, said the commemoration is targeted at fostering cooperation between Uganda and Italy and encourage the respective citizens to visit the Rwenzori ranges more and have fun with the unique resources therein.

A team of 16 mountain climbers, 11 Ugandans and five foreigners, were scheduled to meet the King of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba, on Saturday, as Mr Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi, Italy, did to King Kasagama 100 years ago.

The team will start the six-day trek to the mountain summit on June 13 commencing from Nyakalengigijo, in Ibanda where the duke had his ascent on June 3, 1906.
The team is expected to reach some of the peaks on June 18. They will hoist the Uganda and Italy flags and erect a centenary plaque the same day.
The Rwenzoris are one of Uganda’s most beautiful mountains that have attracted alot of cimbers to Uganda.

UGANDA SAFARI NEWS