Tourism potential in Hoima

Dec 05, 2004

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Hoima district Local Government and the Lake Albert Safaris Company have formed a company to run Kabwoya Kaiso-Tonya wildlife reserve.

By William Rwembera
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Hoima district Local Government and the Lake Albert Safaris Company have formed a company to run Kabwoya Kaiso-Tonya wildlife reserve. The researve is located 200kms away from Murchison Falls National Park and Paara Safari Lodge.
Martin Bruce, a South African investor and proprietor of Lake Albert Safaris Company, has been approved by government and allowed to develop the place.
“I would have begun already putting structures, but I am delayed because my management plan and proposal is still being studied by UWA and the district local government officials,” Bruce says.
Moses Mapesa who heads UWA’s department of Field Operations says UWA would give the investor a concession. However, he said the animal population had declined because of the illegal activities including poaching.
Mapesa says tourism would be one of the major activities, but sport hunting would also be encouraged later. Communities would share part of the benefits from the venture and this would act as an incentive that can lure them to protect the wild animals and their habitat.
“This project is going to run for 15 years. In the first five years, we want to put lodges and construct roads. After this, we shall put emphasis on tourism,” Bruce says.
He says tourists will be travelling by air since it takes one hour by air and six by road.
According to Bruce’s proposal, there will be trophy hunting in the reserve. Currently, sport hunting is being carried out in Lake Mburo National Park. On approval of UWA, the company will select non-breeding males, kill them and remove the precious features like horns, teeth, skin and hooves for export. The meat from these animals is sometimes given or sold to the local community.
Kabwoya Kaiso-Toonya is a constituency-protected area under Murchison falls conservation area. It borders Lake Albert and covers 230 square kilometres.
“Many animals had run away because of poachers and the people who had settled there. When we forced them out, these animals started coming back in big numbers,” says William Mwesigye, the game warden in charge of Kabwoya Kaiso-Tonya reserve.
The popular game in the reserve includes Uganda kobs, bushbucks, warthogs, chimpanzees, baboons, colobus monkeys and many bird species.
However, the local people say they have always seen hippos, buffaloes, crocodiles, oribi and duikers.
“A number of elephants went into the neighbourhood have been blocked by human settlement. They run away because of poaching. They are evident in Bugoma forest and other unprotected areas of Kabwoya Sub County,” Mwesigye says.
Bruce also intends to relocate Jackson’s hartebeest, waterbuck and bohor reedbuck from Murchison Falls National Park.
He says he has been assured of the funding for relocating the animals. However, the district council also proposes that he relocates some of the problematic animals like the elephants, which are destroying peoples’ gardens in Kabwoya.

Additional reporting by Gerald Tenywa

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