It’s a season for rotten ideas from Dar to Asmara via Kla

What you need to know:

Bad idea. We learnt earlier this month that Tanzania wants to ramp up its already substantial tourism numbers by launching a cable car service up and down Africa’s tallest mountain.

Going up the mighty Kilimanjaro by cable car? That is such a bad idea. Yet it is what the Tanzanian government is planning.
We learnt earlier this month that Tanzania wants to ramp up its already substantial tourism numbers, by regional standards, by launching a cable car service up and down Africa’s tallest mountain.
The mountain already attracts a cool 50,000 climbers a year. But the government is hungry for more. “A cable car could increase tourist numbers by 50 per cent by providing access to the mountain for those unable to climb it,” Reuters quoted a government minister as saying.
As someone who has revelled in the challenge and joys of climbing mountains, this is such a rotten idea. If it is money Tanzania wants, it should simply increase the fee it charges to climb the majestic mountain.

For those unable to do the hard hike, well, Tanzania has lots of other tourism products to offer. There are the usual protected areas — including the Serengeti National Park and the absolutely stunning Ngorongoro Crater — the Indian Ocean islands with ancient forts, the beaches on the coastline, the lakeshores, the forests.
Beware what you want. The real hikers may lose interest once the whole thing gets crowded with the cable car people zipping up and down as though they were kids at a the community playground. The hoped-for cash may not materialise.

Also, the government had better consider what the porters and guides who support the climbers are saying. One of their leaders told Reuters: “One visitor from the US can have a maximum of 15 people behind him, of which 13 are porters, a cook and a guide. All these jobs will be affected by a cable car.”
According to the news agency, approximately 20,000 porters work between Kilimanjaro and Meru, another mountain nearby.

Okay, the Americans travel big, but I can say that when six of us climbed the Rwenzori in 2015, we were supported by a party of 22 — three guides, two chefs, and the rest porters. And, guess what, the entire support group was made of local people working for Rwenzori Mountaineering Services, itself a local organisation that has sharpened skill and experience in taking people up and down the mountain.
Speaking of epic mountaineering, as I wrote this piece on Thursday, news broke that Ms Saray Khumalo had that morning become the first Black African woman to scale Mount Everest.
According to online sources, Khumalo, a South African, was born in Zambia, with a Rwandan bloodline. Sheer grit and determination paid off on her fourth attempt to reach the top of what is regarded as “one of the most dangerous mountains in the world to try and climb”.
Now, that is something!

I am not about to try Everest. However, I sure plan on hitting Kilimanjaro next year. So, I would like to agree with the Tanzanian porters’ leader who told Reuters: “We are of the view that the mountain should be left as it is.”
Here is to hope that Tanzania abandons its latest bad idea. Just like I hope Eritrea can stop blocking social media services. We learnt from the BBC Online that the “reason for the shutdown is unclear, but speculation is that the government has blocked social media sites to prevent people from using them to organise protests that could disrupt Independence Day celebrations on May 24.”

You celebrate independence yet the people are not free. Good one.
Maybe I should simply say, Eritreans, welcome to our world in Uganda. We not only shut down social media as and when we please, we also tax its use. While at it we rope in mobile money. We collect the tax shillings then waste a good chunk through theft and incompetent delivery of public services.
East Africa is an exciting place, but it also acts crazy often. Eritrea, from the Horn, should steer clear of our sins because it already has enough of its own. But, again, who is the president of Eritrea?

Bernard Tabaire is a media trainer and commentator on public affairs based in Kampala.
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Twitter:@btabaire