British MP wants mate for ‘lonely’ baboon

By Isaac Kalembe

A British MP has expressed concern over a ‘lonely’ baboon marooned on a Lake Victoria island, saying it needs a mate.

“When we sailed by the island, the captain told me the baboon lives alone. I’m worried about this lonely baboon. I’m going to launch a campaign to ensure it gets a mate,” Mark Pritchard said.

Pritchard, the MP for Wrekim and a member of the House Select Committee on Environment, was talking to his Ugandan counterparts at a cocktail organised by the British High Commission at Kyadondo in Kampala on Tuesday.

He is one of six MPs of the UK Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on a working visit.

The others are Andrew Love, Baroness Hollis, David Davies, Irracana Davies and Lyn Brown.

Bob, as the baboon is known to the fishing community on Makusu Island, was named after Bob Astles, who in the 1970s brought the primate and its husband to the island near Munyonyo.

Astles, now living in the UK, was resident adviser to former ruler Idi Amin.

The island was one of Amin’s favourite spots and he named it “Paradise Island.”