Tourism Potential Untapped As Sites Rot in West Nile Region

 Arua — The tourism potential in West Nile has been left idle and its benefits untapped for decades as officials continue to look on, with no immediate plans to revive the industry.
White Rhino Hotel, the Alikoa pyramid, constructed by Belgians in 1920, and the ancestral burial site of the Lugbara people who died on Mount Wati in Terego are all in a sorry state. Hopes for their revival were raised in 2008, but it has not come to fruition.

The situation, however, is now generating a lot of concern, especially from some local politicians who feel the district leadership has deliberately failed to revive the sites.
The revival of the tourism sites was not included in the district budget for 2011/12 as earlier promised. The Anyiribu Sub-county councillor, Mr Sam Onzia, said the exclusion of the tourism sites in the budget makes it difficult to improve them. "We may not be aware of the potential benefits, but I think we are losing a lot of revenue from tourism," he said. Tourism is one potential area where the districts could generate income to improve revenue base. The existing laws are powerless in protecting the potential tourist sites.

An elder in Arua Town, Mr Jaffar Alekoa, said that the political turmoil and lawlessness that prevailed in the 1980s did not spare the tourist sites. "As elders we are trying to lobby friends and districts to revive these sites. They are historical both for our grandchildren and for research purpose," he said. There are no professional travel agents and tour firms that could spur the tourism industry in West Nile.
Mr Nelson Abiti, a conservator in the Department of Monument and Museums in the Ministry of Tourism, admits that government has done little to protect potential tourist sites in West Nile and other parts of the country.
Ajai Game Reserve was initially gazetted as a White Rhino sanctuary in 1937. In 2006, two white rhinos were brought into Uganda from Disney Animal Kingdom in the US state of Florida. The Uganda Wildlife Authority cannot transfer some of the white rhinos at Zziwa Ranch in Nakasongola to Ajai Game Reserve because the area is still unsecure.

To revive the tourism industry, an elder, Mr John Ochan, said: "People should also be educated about the advantages of conserving wildlife so that they are not alienated from their conservation." The district is entitled to 10 per cent of the revenue from tourism but they are losing because the sites have been abandoned.

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