UGANDA: When killing of 11 lions undermines tourism more than the killing of over 100 Bakonjo!!!

CHANGE OF GUARDS - Kasese district is home to Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP), Rwenzori National Park (RNP) and the Bakonjo tribe. QENP is home to many wild animals including the rare tree-climbing lions. The major tourism activity in RNP is mountain trekking.

Last week three adult lions and eight of their cubs were found dead as a result of poisoning. The poisoning is alleged to have been done by a pastrolist after the lions killed his cow at Hamukungu Fishing Village. Both the Museveni regime, local and international conservation organizations have come out to vehemently condemn the incident.

In particular, the Minister of Wildlife and Antiquities, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu rushed to the district and even led prayers for the dead lions. He had this to say;

"We condemn in the strongest terms possible such an act of deliberately killing animals who are now a top foreign exchange earner to the country contributing 10% of GDP and 23% of total foreign exchange. Perpetrator of this heinous act will face the full extend of the law."

Private sector players in Uganda's tourism sector issued a statement thus; "Such acts undermine the efforts by our tour operators to market the country and attract visitors to Uganda."

Human/wildlife conflicts have persisted amongst the communities that neighbour with most national parks in Uganda. Those communities don't appreciate the importance of wildlife because they don't see the benefits. UWA, the body mandated with management of wildlife and the national parks has an arrangement of sharing revenue accrued from tourism with the neighbouring communities. Twenty percent of the total revenue is given to such communities through their respective districts. During 2016/2017, Kasese district was given 36,204,441 shillings. The money is meant to support the improvement of social services and facilitation of income generating activities. Unfortunately, such remittances don't reach the target communities and end up being swindled by the regime cohorts at the district levels.

Interestingly, there is an existing agreement between UWA and residents of the fishing villages whereby they are not supposed to rear animals. The Museveni regime has accorded a special position to Pastoralist communities who are treated as an endangered species. In Lake Mburo National Park the pastoralists poisoned all the lions to extinction by 2001. In 2007 in QENP 10 Lions and four hyenas were poisoned to death by Basongora pastoralists in the same locality. QENP had only 90 lions remaining before this incident.

Kasese district and the Bakonjo in particular overwhelmingly support the opposition. During the February 2016 sham elections, the district overwhelmingly voted for the opposition in all electoral positions. Consequently, in November 2016 Museveni sent his security forces who attacked the palace of the Bakonjo king and gruesomely killed more than 100 people including women and children. Another 186 men and women were brutally arrested, humiliated, tortured and continue to be incarcerated without trial. The regime and private sector players in the tourism sector did not come out to condemn the heinous crime.

Kasese district is a tourism hub such that both the killing of lions and Bakonjo greatly undermines tourism. Burying their heads in the sand when Museveni kills Bakonjo but coming out to mourn and condemn the killing of 11 lions is hypocrisy of the highest order.

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM IF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM