Busoga Kingdom to partner with UWEC to promote tourism
The Kyabazinga [King] of Busoga Kingdom, William Nadiope Gabula IV (C) plays with a giraffes as kingdom officials and UWEC Director James Musinguzi (R) observe on October 1. PHOTO/PAUL ADUDE
What you need to know:
- The Kyabazinga said initiatives like setting up a zoo in the Busoga Region will boost tourism and promote the message of much needed conservation of Wildlife.
The Kyabazinga [King] of Busoga Kingdom, William Nadiope Gabula IV has revealed that the kingdom will partner with the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) to promote wildlife conservation and tourism in the region and country as a whole.
“We have an open door especially to developmental partnerships. We welcome everybody on board. We are more than willing to work with you in order to have a lot of developments both in our region and countrywide,” he said.
The Kyabazinga made the remarks on Friday during an official visit to UWEC.
“As a Kingdom, we also have tourism sites. We are therefore requesting you to partner with us to continue preserving them and also develop some of them because at the end of the day we wish to join you in promoting both domestic and international tourism.” he added.
The Kyabazinga said initiatives like setting up a zoo in the Busoga Region will boost tourism and promote the message of much needed conservation of Wildlife.
“We are very glad that you (UWEC) decided to preserve them for us since time immemorial while at the same time conserving the environment in its natural form,” he said.
The executive director UWEC, Mr James Musinguzi said the centre will set up a zoo in Busoga region to promote conservation education and tourism for all population groups.
“We feel for us to create a sustainable impact we need to reach out to the communities. Government has put in place a strategy to establish regional wildlife centers,’’ he informed.
The minister of tourism and heritage in Busoga Kingdom, Ms Hellen Namutamba said the kingdom will allocate between 50 to 100 acres of land to set up the Zoo, “And also set up a small park at Budhumbula palace.”
Relatedly, Mr Musinguzi said once people understand the need to conserve their totems, then the wildlife will be conserved for generations to come.
“We want to work with cultural institutions and leaders to reach the subjects to spread the message of cultural and wildlife conservation,” he said.
Mr Musinguzi noted that setting up regional wildlife centres will boost both domestic and foreign tourism across the country.
“Before Covid-19, tourism was one of the highest export earners for Uganda, bringing in $1.6b annually, Covid-19 brought in disruptions but we are now seeing an upward trend in form of domestic tourism. Foreign tourism is picking up we are hopeful,” he said.
