Uganda, the Endowed Country

I am not a messenger of doom. I have been to the Murchison falls and I saw its stunning beauty. It is a shame that for me to go there, it took a friend of mine from the UK requesting me to take me there. I love the boat ride and watching the animals in the river. This process of touring various sites in Uganda is a source of jobs, incomes and addresses poverty. I have in my various postings been commenting on some of the issues that portray the dark side of our country. This has included low productivity issues, begging mentality among others. Hope is not lost for Africa especially for a richly endowed country like Uganda. Tourism is one aspect that we can compete favorably with others globally. We have the animals that people in the developed countries want to see. Part of the biggest fresh water lake is in Uganda. The mighty 40000 Nile river starts in Uganda, we have these beautiful falls, forests and a wonderful climate. We have the cultural institutions surprisingly including the imbalu in Bugisu, the kuhingira in western Uganda and all these are good attractions and sources of jobs and incomes to the people in the country. Of course I once went to New Orleans in the United States, the New Orleans is now famously known for Catrina the storm that devastated the coastal town in the US. There is nothing much to see there and visiting the tourist office, I wondered why there was nothing to see but yet New Orleans attracts millions of tourists both local and international. It is famous for the French quarters especially Bourbon Street. One tourism expert in their offices told me that tourism is a story you tell. The events may have taken place long ago, but you must be able to sustain the story which people listen to and enjoy. The Busoga region for instance has the story of bishop Hannington. At the site where he was killed, there is nothing spectacular but the story is and it can be told. Busoga has in the recent years attempted to promote tourism. It is all about telling a beautiful and convincing story. Uganda can do this. In recent years the tourist authorities have come up with “gifted by Nature” rhetoric which is appropriate but I do not think the marketing is focused. Uganda also referred to as the pearl of Africa. This too is a selling point. Government needs to develop basic minimum infrastructure and let the private sector do the rest. To offer the hotel accommodation, supply food, transport and actual telling of the story. A crucial component of this story is training. One of the reasons Kenya has developed its tourism potential is through organized training. UTALI College is famous in hotel and there are now several aviation training institutions besides the Vet institutions. It is a pity MUBS took over the National College of Business Studies. We have been developing capacity to train hotel and restaurant Human Resource but government has never given us support in this area. Crested Crane in Jinja now known as the tourism training institute is is run down, has no money and has no people capable of running it in comparison with UTALI in Kenya. We requested that we take over this institution to give Uganda, trained people in tourism nobody listens. Without knowledge and skills in leisure and tourism management, we cannot create jobs. Or where there are jobs, we cannot compete effectively. One day somebody who is responsible for making this happen, may read this. I hope he realizes that tourism holds potential to address a percentage of Uganda’s economic fortune. Lest I forget, a limiting factor on tourism is the foreign media. For as long as they glorify even small issues in the economy, you will not have international tourists. That is a political issue. Our political leaders must find a way of dealing with it.