Tororo: A growing gem in the East

From Kampala, the journey was a delight. Passing through Jinja however, left a sour taste in my mouth. This town has panoramic views of the Nile and Lake Victoria. For all its beauty, Jinja remains lukewarm to a fault.

Driving throughat 10am, the shops on Main Street were still closed. The buildings are still old as in my childhood, with no visible renovation. We had breakfast here. We continued through the vast lush green Kakira sugarcane plantation made our way into Iganga town, a stronghold of the basoga. This town had few old buildings and was plied by bicycles 10 years ago. We had our lunch at Mwaana Hotel.

En route
We proceeded through Busitema forest. If this forest is anything to go by, then human beings are harmful to nature. Once thick and green, the forest now has just a few scattered trees. Thanks to lumbering. Baboons by the roadside are proof that this must have been a thicket. Minutes past Busitema forest, we entered Tororo town.

Tororo rock towering beautifully, gives the town a gorgeous backdrop. We made our way into the town in the late evening, giving us the opportunity to experience the night life. Our initial plan was to check into our hotel and head out for a night on the town. An hour into it, we had not found a hotel.

Almost all hotels in Tororo town it turned out, had been booked by a certain parastatal which had a workshop for the weekend. That saw us drive in circles for almost an hour. We chanced upon, The Piedmont, on Hillary Road. However, at that time, we were too tired to venture out.

We instead decided to go for a stroll. Taking Mbale Road, we slopped to Nagongera Road in search of a place to have a meal. We realised that Tororo may not be for party animals. Despite being a weekend, the residents closed shops early and by 8 pm, the town was in limbo, a quiet place with a handful people moving around.
Restless night
“A place to party? Ha, I doubt you will find one now. Tororo hangouts are not the best and the security is wanting. People exchange blows in local pubs . You are better off driving to Malaba, where there are decent hangouts!” a local advised us, when we inquired about a place to go. Our goose was cooked and we headed back to the hotel.

Plagued by hunger, we were also disappointed to find no food at the hotel. We settled for a humble restaurant in the neighborhood. When I asked a waitress on duty what they had, she looked me in the face answering, “I don’t know!” Perplexed, I asked if there was any other person but herself that we could talk to. Then a feisty young lady, 20 or there about, waltzed in. When I placed my order for chicken, she came back with my food, but the soup on my plate made me ask if the town was plagued by a water shortage.

“Why do you say that?” she shot back
“Well, why else would we be served such little soup?” I inquired.
“We are not Basoga who eat too much soup, are you?” she retorted.
“I’m not a musoga. I’m a Ugandan who just happens to love soup,” I replied. She went back in and brought me what I wanted. Although the first night there was quite disappointing, the following day was interesting.

The next day
Compared to Jinja which is lukewarm, Tororo is a hive of activity during the day. At 8am, shops were open and people were going about their business. This border town is indeed growing steadily, and many corporates have moved in to tap into its growing population. Almost all banks are here, making it a good place business-wise.

The downside to it, are the lingering tribal undertones among the Japadhola and Iteso. Most residents we talked to sighted this as a thorn in the flesh of many.

Did you know?
A statue of the cross erected atop a hill at Osia seemingly stands guard of Tororo town. Osia is about 4km from the town centre. Downhill from the statue is a shrine where Roman Catholics congregate for among other religious events, novena, the nine-day prayers. The prayers are often recited in the month of November. As a way of following the cross, believers trek from this shrine up to the statue.