The Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) is planning to establish model satellite wildlife centres in four different regions countrywide at a tune of sh44b in the next financial year.

According to James Musinguzi, the UWEC executive director, the vision of being the leading centre that inspires positive action in biodiversity conservation and awareness for sustainable development can only be achieved if the zoo services are spread across all regions.

This was revealed during a meeting between the UWEC officials and the parliamentary committee on tourism, trade and industry, chaired by Mbarara City South MP, Mwine Mpaka. The committee is investigating the impact of COVID-19 on the business community.

UWEC is mandated to educate and inspire Ugandans in wildlife conservation for global benefit with emphasis on the young generation.

The UWEC officials argued that to execute their activities, there is need to establish other centres.

David Musingo, the manager, information and education at UWEC, said they plan to set up the wildlife centres in newly created regional cities, starting with Mbale.

“We are going to establish these centres in cities such as Gulu, Mbale, Fort Portal and Mbarara. Zoos are supposed to be in urban centres because of the catchment area for sustainability,” he said.

Musinguzi said the sh44b budget for the implementation of the project will be direct government funding and fundraising from well-wishers and donors.

COMMITTEE FINDINGS

Meanwhile, MPs on the committee unearthed an anomaly where sh1.2b that was collected by UWEC last year had not been remitted to the consolidated fund.

The money was from donations from well-wishers towards meeting costs of animal care when the centre was locked due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee also learnt that the sh1.2b is still on the account of UWEC, instead of the consolidated fund as required by the Public Finance Management Act.

This did not go well with the MPs, led by Ritah Atukwasa, the Mbarara City Woman MP, who wondered why the money remains idle, yet UWEC is facing financial constraints.

In his defence, Musinguzi justified the non-remittance of the money to the consolidated fund, saying the authorities mandated to collect this revenue had not played their role.

Last year, UWEC launched a fundraising drive to maintain the welfare of the animals after President Yoweri Museveni announced a national lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

UWEC was greatly affected as far as visitation and entrance fees are concerned.

All bookings by foreign tourists were also cancelled.