W. BUSH VISITS UGANDA TODAY
Jul 10, 2003
The usually quiet Entebbe town was yesterday bustling with activity as residents prepared to receive US President George Walker Bush today.
By Grace Matsiko
THE usually quiet Entebbe town was yesterday bustling with activity as residents prepared to receive US President George Walker Bush today.
Bush, on the fourth leg of his first ever tour of Africa, becomes the second sitting US president to visit Uganda in five years. Former President Bill Clinton visited Uganda in March 1998.
Over 750 privileged Entebbe residents, including school children, will join a government delegation to receive Bush as he disembarks.
Those not allowed at the airport have been encouraged to line up on the opposite side of the incoming convoy.
Entebbe residents and people pouring into the township from Kampala and other areas to welcome Bush have been advised not to stand on raised grounds, climb trees, walls, rooftops or in windows, the mayor, Stephen Kabuye said, adding that it is a directive in consultation with the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala.
“People whose activities are on the lake, will not be permitted to transact any business except for emergency cases,†Kabuye said.
Yesterday morning, about 100 personnel on Bush’s security detail flew into Entebbe aboard a US airforce plane. The guards came with food, medicine, military and other logistics.
Shrewd traders in the usually sleepy Entebbe immediately quoted prices of goods especially souvenirs and African art on posters outside their shops.
At Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, the venue for the meeting between Bush and President Yoweri Museveni, the US Marines sold T-shirts, mugs and caps bearing their logos. The money raised from the items which sold between US$10 (about sh20, 000) and US$50 (about sh100, 000) will be used to fund the Marines Birthday Ball to take place in the US in September, the Americans told this reporter.
Presidential Protection Brigade guards on jeeps and trucks were deployed between the airport and Botanical Beach Hotel.
Military Police were deployed to beef up security at the Police posts.
Small banana plantations along the road from the airport were slashed and Mayor Kabuye said owners should not expect compensation because they were there illegally. Shacks built along the road to the hotel were razed.
Ministry of works officials said about sh250m was spent to give the town and the airport a vibrant face. Zzimwe Construction Company was hurriedly hired to tarmac Lugard Avenue, which stretches to the hotel.
Ends
THE usually quiet Entebbe town was yesterday bustling with activity as residents prepared to receive US President George Walker Bush today.
Bush, on the fourth leg of his first ever tour of Africa, becomes the second sitting US president to visit Uganda in five years. Former President Bill Clinton visited Uganda in March 1998.
Over 750 privileged Entebbe residents, including school children, will join a government delegation to receive Bush as he disembarks.
Those not allowed at the airport have been encouraged to line up on the opposite side of the incoming convoy.
Entebbe residents and people pouring into the township from Kampala and other areas to welcome Bush have been advised not to stand on raised grounds, climb trees, walls, rooftops or in windows, the mayor, Stephen Kabuye said, adding that it is a directive in consultation with the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala.
“People whose activities are on the lake, will not be permitted to transact any business except for emergency cases,†Kabuye said.
Yesterday morning, about 100 personnel on Bush’s security detail flew into Entebbe aboard a US airforce plane. The guards came with food, medicine, military and other logistics.
Shrewd traders in the usually sleepy Entebbe immediately quoted prices of goods especially souvenirs and African art on posters outside their shops.
At Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, the venue for the meeting between Bush and President Yoweri Museveni, the US Marines sold T-shirts, mugs and caps bearing their logos. The money raised from the items which sold between US$10 (about sh20, 000) and US$50 (about sh100, 000) will be used to fund the Marines Birthday Ball to take place in the US in September, the Americans told this reporter.
Presidential Protection Brigade guards on jeeps and trucks were deployed between the airport and Botanical Beach Hotel.
Military Police were deployed to beef up security at the Police posts.
Small banana plantations along the road from the airport were slashed and Mayor Kabuye said owners should not expect compensation because they were there illegally. Shacks built along the road to the hotel were razed.
Ministry of works officials said about sh250m was spent to give the town and the airport a vibrant face. Zzimwe Construction Company was hurriedly hired to tarmac Lugard Avenue, which stretches to the hotel.
Ends