Bwindi park safe
Jun 15, 2004
BWINDI and Mgahinga national parks are safe and there has not been any Interahamwe attack in their vicinity
By Alfred Wasike
and Darius magara
BWINDI and Mgahinga national parks are safe and there has not been any Interahamwe attack in their vicinity, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said yesterday.
The UWA rubbished a report by The Monitor on Tuesday that there had been running battles between the UPDF and the Interahamwe near the mountain gorilla sanctuaries.
The UWA said a detach ment of 15 rogue soldiers from the RCD Goma’s 12th Brigade stationed at Runyonyo in the DRC sneaked into Uganda to “steal food as usual†but villagers raised alarm.
Army units repulsed them in a brief confrontation, 15km north of Mgahinga and about 50km south of Bwindi.
“The Monitor did not bother to clarify their story with the army or with the UWA. The Kisoro RDC also denied it. Yet it destroys all the successes that have so far been made in reviving Uganda’s tourism industry,†a UWA trustee, Yafesi Otim Omara, flanked by the UWA executive director, Arthur Mugisha, told journalists yesterday.
Tourism is Uganda’s second highest revenue earner and gorilla tourism is providing the bulk of that revenue, the UWA said.
Five RCD soldiers were shot dead including a commander of the Bunagana — Congo sector. The bodies are now at Kisoro UPDF barracks.
Mugisha said, “The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, has made it clear there was no battle in the national parks. What happened is that a rogue detach of the RCD Goma faction entered eight kilometres into Uganda to Gatwe village in Muramba parish, eight kilometres north of Bunagana border post to steal food as they usually do.â€
“Villagers around Bunagana raised alarm, attracting our patrols who opened fire, scattering the rogues.
They were not Interahamwe like the Monitor claims. We received reports from our people like the Mgahinga senior warden, Chris Oryema who refuted The Monitor story,†Mugisha added.
He criticised The Monitor for causing panic internationally and confusing many tourists who were eager to see the gorillas. He said tourists who had been in the parks denied hearing fighting there.
Resident District Commissioner David Masereka yesterday said Kisoro was calm and that the UPDF had not deployed heavily at the Bunagana border.
He said 4,000 Congolese who fled Bunagana during the shooting returned home.
and Darius magara
BWINDI and Mgahinga national parks are safe and there has not been any Interahamwe attack in their vicinity, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) said yesterday.
The UWA rubbished a report by The Monitor on Tuesday that there had been running battles between the UPDF and the Interahamwe near the mountain gorilla sanctuaries.
The UWA said a detach ment of 15 rogue soldiers from the RCD Goma’s 12th Brigade stationed at Runyonyo in the DRC sneaked into Uganda to “steal food as usual†but villagers raised alarm.
Army units repulsed them in a brief confrontation, 15km north of Mgahinga and about 50km south of Bwindi.
“The Monitor did not bother to clarify their story with the army or with the UWA. The Kisoro RDC also denied it. Yet it destroys all the successes that have so far been made in reviving Uganda’s tourism industry,†a UWA trustee, Yafesi Otim Omara, flanked by the UWA executive director, Arthur Mugisha, told journalists yesterday.
Tourism is Uganda’s second highest revenue earner and gorilla tourism is providing the bulk of that revenue, the UWA said.
Five RCD soldiers were shot dead including a commander of the Bunagana — Congo sector. The bodies are now at Kisoro UPDF barracks.
Mugisha said, “The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, has made it clear there was no battle in the national parks. What happened is that a rogue detach of the RCD Goma faction entered eight kilometres into Uganda to Gatwe village in Muramba parish, eight kilometres north of Bunagana border post to steal food as they usually do.â€
“Villagers around Bunagana raised alarm, attracting our patrols who opened fire, scattering the rogues.
They were not Interahamwe like the Monitor claims. We received reports from our people like the Mgahinga senior warden, Chris Oryema who refuted The Monitor story,†Mugisha added.
He criticised The Monitor for causing panic internationally and confusing many tourists who were eager to see the gorillas. He said tourists who had been in the parks denied hearing fighting there.
Resident District Commissioner David Masereka yesterday said Kisoro was calm and that the UPDF had not deployed heavily at the Bunagana border.
He said 4,000 Congolese who fled Bunagana during the shooting returned home.