Uproar in Fort Portal over plans to remove lion effigy
To be removed. The lion effigy at the Fort Portal main roundabout. Photo by Scovia Atuhaire
What you need to know:
- However, the Kingdom of Tooro has rejected the idea asserting that the sculpture is a symbol of their cultural heritage and should not be tampered with.
- The prime minister of Tooro Kingdom, Mr Bernard Tungakwo, has written to the mayor demanding clearance from the royals on the decision to remove the sculpture.
The announcement to relocate the lion sculpture in Fort Portal town has met resistance from residents, leaders, and the Tooro Kingdom.
While appearing on Voice of Tooro, a local radio station in Fort Portal on June 3, the mayor of Fort Portal Municipality, Mr Willy Kintu Muhanga, said plans to relocate the sculpture from the main roundabout in the centre of the town to Balya Road were underway to allow development to take place.
He said all monuments and sculptures should be relocated to the Green Belt on Balya Road for proper planning and beautification of the tourism city that starts operation on July 1.
“We are planning to add more monuments on Balya Road to make it a tourism site,” he said, adding that they need to pave way for developments for the tourism city to change face.
However, the Kingdom of Tooro has rejected the idea asserting that the sculpture is a symbol of their cultural heritage and should not be tampered with.
The prime minister of Tooro Kingdom, Mr Bernard Tungakwo, has written to the mayor demanding clearance from the royals on the decision to remove the sculpture.
“We as the kingdom administration consider this lion sculpture to be a symbol of our heritage and a name tag of our king (Entale). We are concerned with your utterances on the removal of this historical symbol,” reads part of the June 4 letter.
Asked whether he had responded to the Kingdom’s prime minister, Mr Muhanga said: “I have not officially received that letter. I just saw it on social media, when it comes to me, we shall respond, but the lion may be removed the same way it came, no one consulted the urban authority to install it.”
Mr Muhanga explained that last week he met a team from President’s Office who came for monitoring in line with the restructuring of cities and they proposed that the sculpture be relocated to allow some developments on the roundabout.
“Many people have lost lives from that roundabout because it is very small. So the plan is to let the lion be relocated to Balya Road and replace it with traffic lights to minimise accidents,” he said.
He added that they have already contacted Uganda National Roads Authority to revise the contract of China Wu Yi, a construction company that is rehabilitating the Fort Portal-Hima Road, to include a redesign for the roundabout to ensure that accidents are minimised.
“We need a city that is well connected in terms of infrastructure. We do not want to throw away the lion but we want to re-locate it to Balya Road where there are some other monuments including the effigy of Sir Gerald Portal that was also removed from the second roundabout and replaced with the city clock,” he said.
The South Division chairman, Mr Herbert Mugisa, said the mayor did not consult the council and the people who put it there.
“The mayor cannot decide on issues of development alone. How could he accept the relocation of the lion effigy without consulting the council and the Kingdom as stakeholders? This lion is our identity and it fits to be at the roundabout,” Mr Mugisa said.
