Costly affair but what is the cost-benefit of papal visit?

In its 2015/16 Budget framework paper, government requested Parliament to put aside Shs5b for the papal visit due this Friday.
Pope Francis is this Friday expected to touch down at Entebbe International Airport at around 5pm as he begins a three-day packed visit to Uganda.
He will fly in from Kenya and is expected to stay for two days, before proceeding to the Central Africa Republic – but the visit there is yet to be confirmed due to security concerns.
Such visits, particularly from high profile visitors, present logistical nightmares to host governments in regard to security, accommodation, influx of international media and public relations.

But beyond the nightmares is the substantial amounts that have already or will be spent, especially by the Catholic Church and the government as preparations to host the papal delegation nears end.
According to Crux, a Catholic publication, the Pope travels with an entourage of more than 30 people, including the clergy and employees of the Vatican press office.
Key among them, who may also be here, are Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state and Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, the first private secretary.

Others are Alberto Gasbarri, the Vatican radio official who organises the pope’s foreign trips, Domenico Giani, the head of Vatican security and Patrizio Polisca, the pope’s personal doctor.
The entourage, the Crux says, is also composed of more than 70 journalists, which puts the papal flight to about or more than 100 passengers plus the aerospace crew.
Therefore, no government would want to be caught off-guard as they would not want to have any form of threats presented.
Security forces must be on the loop and will want to make no mistake in regard to securing the stay of the papal delegation.

The pope is expected to visit Munyonyo Martyrs Shrine, Namugongo Martyrs Shrine and a charity – run Church in Nalukolongo, a Kampala suburb.
Police has already deployed both overt and covert officers to monitor security, especially around areas that the pope will be visiting.
In August, Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, revealed they had started drills ahead of the visit but declined to divulge how many officers would be deployed.

Estimated deployment
However, security insiders estimate that more than 15,000 officers could be at the steady to ensure that the Pope’s visit is not threatened or interrupted.
All this means money and the government and the Church will have to dig deep into their pockets but could save some coins given Pope Francis’ frugal lifestyle.
Pope Francis has been an advocate of modest living and has been seen travelling in small cars and sleeping in meek setups.

The full expenditure, save for the Shs5b in the budget and the Shs18b, which government gave for the Church for reconstruction of the Martyrs shrines, might still be unknown as Ruhakana Rugunda says the organising committee is yet to compile and present a report on the papal visit.
Rugunda is the Prime Minister and his office, together with the Catholic Church, are coordinating and organising the visit.

And for the church, no amount has been disclosed yet but Monsignor John Kauta, the secretary general of Uganda Episcopal Conference, believes their preparations have the capacity to contain any logistical challenge.
But beyond the expenditure, is the cost-benefit that will come with the papal visit, which economic analysts believe, casts Uganda in the global limelight.
Key among the analysts is Mwambutsya Ndebesa, who at a public lecture last week, said there is no better time to showcase Uganda than now. Ndebesa, is a senior lecturer at Makerere University but he believes “the high profile visit could be the magic bullet to harness opportunities, especially for the tourism sector”.
Hundreds, if not thousands of cameras will focus on Uganda with millions across the globe feeding off images down in Kampala.

Packed weekend
The November 27-29 weekend will be a packed one for Uganda but Ndebesa wonders whether enough preparations have been made, especially in terms of branding Uganda.
“This is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss. I wonder whether government thinks this is business. We have to be focused. Marketing of Uganda should start right from the airport – to showcase our natural treasures,” he says.
The last time the Pope was in Cuba, more than 1,500 visitors, including diplomats, journalists and foreign Church officials are estimated to have arrived in the country to document Pope Francis’ visits to one of the most closed communist countries in the world.
Such a huge arrival in one fold is a rare opportunity and for any government with foresight, it must be utilised to the maximum.
And how government utilises this opportunity remains unsatisfactory as Amos Wekesa points out enough has not been invested.

“We have known for months now that the Pope will be coming here, but we have not prepared enough. The fact is, we will miss out on the publicity that could have given us mileage in terms of showcasing our tourism,” he says.
Wekesa is a tourism enthusiast and the managing director of Great Lakes Safari but he argues more could have been done to throw Uganda’s tourism potential into the global face.
Similarly, Gideon Badagawa, the Private Sector Foundation Uganda executive director, believes Uganda Tourism Board could have done more as “our country will be the focus and centre of attraction once the Pope is here. Therefore we should present ourselves as the best tourist destination.”
“We expect Uganda Tourism Board to do more promotion, image-building and branding. And agriculture should also be part of the package to be promoted,” he says.

Branding efforts
Although we could not get a comment from Uganda Tourism Board on the matter by press time, there has been attempts to brand Uganda in international press.
Recently the government under Uganda Tourism Board, sanctioned a tourism and trade supplement about Uganda that was published in the New York Times. However, we could not independently verify whether the supplement was targeting the papal visit.

Even then, Badagawa says it will be difficult to consolidate gains that could have been harnessed both during and after the visit because less has been done to make the visitors who will be in the country during the papal visit to return at a later time for leisure.
But this, just like how Badagawa believes, could have been an opportunity neglected and could just pass just like any other.
This, analysts say, could have been the time to go beyond selling papal replicas but attract long-term relationships that could attract massive foreign indirect investment.
And how this turns out for Uganda will, in which ever manner, rewrite Uganda’s history.

Expected benefits
With an estimated arrival of more than 1,000 visitors the lodging and hotel industry could be the biggest immediate beneficiary of the pope’s visit. The arrivals are an estimate based on the Pope’s previous visits; especially in Cuba were more than 1,500 people arrived into the country to witness the papal visit in a closed communist nation.
But apart from the hotels, tour and travel operators, artisans, designers and the construction sector could be the other sectors that will hugely benefit from the visit. Already cups, T-shirts and artifacts bearing the papal face or related features are on sale and will be good selling commodities at the pope’s planned ceremonies and beyond.

Difficult to quantify
When interviewed for this article, the spokesperson, Office of the Prime, Moses Watasa, said at the moment it is difficult to establish the actual sum of money that government has injected into the papal visit because it is being sourced from different ministries and departments.
However, he said ministries, whose efforts are being coordinated by OPM have since contributed more than just finances because it would be difficult to “quantify the government role in terms of security and the construction of shrines and roads around Namugongo.
“We have a task force from different ministries all helping in technical support and working closely with the Catholic Church. All this you cannot quantify in money terms. We have a responsibility to ensure that all is well,” he said.
Worth mentioning is that some of the costs of the Pope’s visit will be covered by event organisers and donations from private companies and individuals.