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By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Second edition September 2007 SHERATON KAMPALA HOTEL CATERS FOR LONG TERM STAYS The recently completed refurbishment of the hotel has created new facilities for long staying guests in their 'Park Square Suites' located on the third floor of the hotel. The one and two bedroom suites offer a kitchenette besides the standard sitting and dining room and feature the latest state of the art technology for guests, including free wireless high speed internet connections. Located in the heart of the city in a sprawling park, which provides a feeling of tranquillity to hotel residents, guests can walk to most of key government or private sector offices from the hotel within a few minutes. Alternatively, for guests staying longer than just a few weeks, 20 apartments are available just across from the main hotel in the 'Golden Leaves Residences', which allows tenants full access to the hotel's much acclaimed sports and spa facilities. The hotel has also acquired a new ISDN hunting line and can now be reached at +256 414 420000, although all existing numbers have also been maintained. Email sales.kampala@sheraton.com for more details and bookings or visit www.sheraton.com/kampala for a complete overview of the hotel's upgraded facilities.
'LE PETIT VILLAGE' OPENS AT QUALITY HILL ARCADE The Belgian owned and operated Quality Hill Shopping Arcade near the American Embassy, along Gaba Road, has now added a small upmarket hotel to its operation, 'Le Petit Village'. Of the 12 self-contained suites 4 are also equipped with kitchen facilities for guests on longer stays or wanting to occasionally cook their own meal. The rather posh little hotel (the rooms are superbly designed and furnished) features a swimming pool and also offers free wireless internet facilities. Breakfast and other meals can be taken at the adjoining 'Le Chateaux' restaurant, arguably one of Kampala's best eateries, which is also located within the arcade compound, although room service is available on request. The Quality Hill bakery and coffee shop 'La Patisserie' is in addition offering its renowned pastries for guests with a sweet tooth while Kampala's finest butchery 'Quality Cuts' offers a wide selection of imported European cheeses and authentic Belgian recipe cold cuts produced in Kampala. Also located within the arcade are a pharmacy, an indigenous Ugandan owned designer clothes boutique, a gallery and a range of other shops. Quality Hill is situated just outside the city centre, about half way from the city to the lakeside resort complex in Munyonyo. For more information visit www.lepetitvillage.net
AIRLINES CAUTIOUS OVER CHOGM IMPACT Airlines operating to and from Uganda have expressed reservations over the projected publicity rewards and impact on revenues of the forthcoming Commonwealth Summit in November. In fact none of the airlines has taken up the offer by the CAA to brand aircraft or become a major sponsor for the event, as they all judged the cost of it to be too much to really pay off in their home markets. With participants coming from some 53 nations across the globe, no single carrier is in any case in a position to effectively cover all those routes. Seats to and from Uganda in November are said to be literally sold out anyway. Some airlines have given indication of extra flights but no details were available as yet. Uganda has no longer a national airline, after Uganda Airlines was closed down following a bodged privatization effort, making us the only country in the region without a national carrier. Private sector upstarts in Uganda have largely failed over the past 8 years due to lack of capital, the use of aged fuel guzzling aircraft and the intense competition in the region mainly by Kenya Airways.
OIL PRODUCTION TO COMMENCE EARLY Following the discovery of sizeable quantities of oil in Uganda over the past year, Tullow Oil has now given the clearest indication yet of their proposed production schedule. The company is confident that the present exploration wells can be turned into production wells within a year. A crash investment programme is aimed to establish a mini refinery, build a thermal power plant and connect the area along Lake Albert to the national electricity transmission grid. The present estimated resource quantity is in the billion barrel region after 7 exploration wells were sunk, a figure expected to rise substantially once additional exploration in yet untouched areas of the concession will go forward. Existing exploration is undertaken by Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil, but additional exploration concessions are now being offered by the Uganda Government. Following the confirmed finds this has generated much additional interests by international oil companies, which had previously shunned Uganda as a potential oil producing country and left the initial risks to such companies as Heritage and Tullow, which now rightly benefit from the finds and their financial potential. PARLIAMENT SYMPATHETIC TO TOURISM OVER BUDGET Members of parliament have rapped the government's budget plans to load extra taxes on hotel accommodation. They referred to the national tourism policy of 2004, which specifically demands that VAT is removed from tourism products, including hotel accommodation. They also picked up a previous proposal made by the Uganda Tourism Association through the Private Sector Foundation's budget memorandum, to have tourism vehicles also exempted from duties and taxes in order to promote capacity building in particular for the safari sector. Other East African nations had in the past resorted to similar interventions but the Uganda government has been oblivious to the concerns and problems of the tourism subsectors. This particularly applies to the funding of the Uganda Tourist Board for generic marketing of the country but also in neglecting the tour and safari operators' challenges, when a fully outfitted vehicle can exceed US Dollars 75.000 in cost, much of it attributed to duties and taxes. Uganda had dropped duties and taxes on imported building materials and outfitting components for hotels ahead of the Commonwealth Summit, to allow swift capacity increases and is now challenged to afford the same treatment to other sections of the tourism industry.
HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO POUND THE COUNTRY Unseasonal heavy rains across parts of the country are causing problems for key traffic routes. In the Karamoja and Teso regions in the Northeast of the country bridges have been swept away and roads made impassable, hindering trade and impacting on people's travelling plans. The North of the country has been equally affected and the two main traffic arteries to the South Sudan's capital of Juba and other towns have now been closed too due to the pathetic state of the key roads. The corridor via Nimule has been officially shut down by the Ministry of Works and Transport to allow emergency repairs take place before reopening the route. The only alternate route via Arua, Koboko and Yei however is now also blocked with many heavy trucks stuck deep in muddy trenches, causing a supply problem for the entire South Sudan. A total of 12 key roads connecting some 22 districts in the Karamoja, Teso, Lango, Acholi and West Nile regions are affected by the flooding and the immediate forecasts predict no change in the weather patterns. The current heavy rains also have a severe impact on road construction time tables, where major construction projects are getting delayed yet more. This includes the crucial road from Jinja to the Kenyan border, which has been under construction for several years now, and the Kampala Northern bypass, which is aimed to keep heavy traffic out of the city centre. Watch this space for emerging news.
TANZANIA GETS ANOTHER PRIVATE AIRLINE Community Airline, a low cost carrier based in Dar es Salaam, is expected to commence operations by the end of September. Their fleet is said to comprise four B737, which will be operating domestic as well as regional flights at fares lower than presently charged by other airlines. Good luck and happy landings.
ROYAL PALM HOTEL DAR ES SALAAM IN MAJOR UPGRADE The Kingdom Hotels owned Moevenpick brand has just announced the completion of a 4 Million US Dollar overhaul of their prime Dar es Salaam property 'Royal Palm Hotel'. All 230 rooms have been renovated and brought to the latest standards as were the public areas of the hotel. It shares the top level rating in the Tanzanian commercial capital with the Kempinski Hotel. The renovation also introduced an executive floor, where a dedicated lounge offers VIP guests private breakfast facilities, meeting spaces and a separate bar. The hotel was on opening about a decade ago managed by Sheraton, before changing hands when the South African Legacy Group then renamed it as the 'Royal Palm Hotel'. After the Legacy Group withdrew from Tanzania the hotel was then taken over by Kingdom Hotels and is now operating under their Moevenpick brand. Kingdom Hotels are also present in Kenya, where they operate as Fairmont Hotels Kenya.
KENYA AIRWAYS INTRODUCES E-CHECK IN AT KEY AIRPORTS The Kenyan national airline, rightly called 'The Pride of Africa', has broken yet again new grounds, when they introduced e-check in's at their key airports. Besides Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport the facility now also exists at London Heathrow, Amsterdam, Paris CDG, Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo International (formerly Jan Smuts International) and Bangkok/Thailand. Passengers can via the Internet select their preferred seat, print their boarding pass and get the system ready for their physical appearance at the airport ahead of the flight, when they will pass the security check points and go for boarding. A dedicated luggage drop off has also been established, where such pre-checked passengers will then have their bags tagged and processed without having to queue up at the general check in counters. Kenya Airways is way ahead of IATA's timetable for e-ticketing compliance and was one of the first airlines in Africa to achieve this goal. IATA has moved the final compliance deadline to mid 2008, as several airlines are still trying to make up for lost time due to complacency and technical difficulties. Participation in IATA's clearing house and bank settlement plan system will after mid 2008 only be possible for compliant members, as will other related member services. More airports will be added by Kenya Airways to the system in due course to eventually cover the entire network with the new service.
PRIVATE LIBYAN AIRLINE TARGETS NAIROBI Afriqiyah, the private Libyan airline which was launched in 2001, has announced plans to fly from Tripoli to Nairobi from early next year. The North African carrier has presently some 23 Airbus jets on order, including the redesigned Airbus A350 XWB. The announcement was made during the delivery ceremony of their first A320 single aisle jet last week in Tripoli at the airline's main base. Afriqiyah has for long operated a fleet of 6 leased planes and was only able to order the new jets after the long standing embargo on Libya was lifted. This had seriously restricted growth and network expansion, which is now at last being remedied.
GREED THE CAUSE FOR FUTURE TARIFF INCREASES The Executive Director of the Kenya Wildlife Services has in the yet clearest terms outlined his intent to increase park entrance fees for Kenya's national parks and reserves by multiples compared to the present fee structure. His underlying motive was exposed, when he claimed the rest of Kenya's tourism industry was short changing KWS and his organisation was not getting enough of the revenue the industry brought to the country. For a long time entrance fees were in the US Dollar 20 region but have now already reached, via an intermediate increase, a level of 40 US Dollars per person per day. Mr. Kipng'etich has admitted that his organization was looking at a level of 100 US Dollars by 2010 for entrance fees, citing the gorilla tracking permit fees in Rwanda and Uganda of 500 US Dollars, which is of course a ludicrous comparison in view of the precarious situation of the mountain gorillas. Their habitat is under severe strain across the border triangle between Uganda, Rwanda and Congo Dr and only about 800 are left in the world. Of those only a small fraction has been habituated for visits by tourists. It therefore seems like grasping at straws to create a desperate argument for the planned increases, which underlying motive seems plain and simple greed. Killing the goose which lays the golden eggs comes to mind.
SAROVA HOTELS REOPEN TAITA HILLS LODGE As reported in this column earlier in the year, Sarova Hotels had then acquired the two former Hilton game lodges along the Voi &endash; Taveta road, which are located in a large private game sanctuary adjoining Tsavo East National Park. Salt Lick Lodge, built on stilts and overlooking a water hole, was reopened following renovations some time ago already, but the base lodge Taita Hills has now also re-opened its doors, following a 2.5 Million US Dollars overhaul of the facility. The two lodges were initially commissioned in the 1970's by Hilton Hotels but were put on sale following the declining fortunes of Kenya's tourism industry several years ago. Tourism in Kenya has since then of course fully recovered, although there are some concerns over the forthcoming general elections, which in the past have been somewhat violence prone, keeping tourists away from the country. Sarova Hotels, an indigenous Kenyan four star hotel group with presence in Nairobi (including the famous Stanley Hotel), Mombasa and key national parks like the Masai Mara, Shaba / Samburu (location for 'Survivor Africa') and Nakuru now have yet more rooms and a wider product range to offer for their clientele. Well done!
CONGO VIRUS OUTBREAK CONFIRMED AS EBOLA As reported in this column two weeks ago, a severe haemorrhagic fever outbreak is underway in the centre of the Congo DR. This has now been confirmed as the dreaded Ebola with reportedly over 200 deaths already recorded. Health facilities in the sprawling jungle country are generally rated very poorly and international organizations have once again been called upon to help fight and contain the outbreak. Uganda and other countries in the region with borders to the Eastern Congo have immediately established strictest containment measures along their borders to ensure no infected persons can cross and spread the disease. In the meantime, the leader of Congo's regime was compelled by intense diplomatic pressure, including strong pressure from the US, to attend a summit in Arusha / Tanzania, where the host President Kibwete moderated talks between Congo and Uganda. Congolese troops and militias have in past weeks repeatedly inflicted border incidents on her neighbours and killed a number of people in Uganda, including a British oil exploration company executive. Congo stands also long accused of intransigence over the wanton killing of her wildlife, where the last remaining Northern White Rhinos at Garamba National Park were wiped out after the Congo regime stubbornly refused to have the remaining dozen or so rhinos airlifted to safety to a Kenyan reserve about 2 years ago. The Congo regime then allowed the LRA terror group to take refuge and shelter in that national park from pursuing Ugandan and South Sudanese units. A group of habituated mountain gorillas were also killed in the Parc de Virunga and the ranger forces in that national park driven away. This latter act was especially seen as a direct threat to the Rwandan and Ugandan national parks along the common border, which sustain their respective tourism sectors, as border incursions occurred at the same time (see previous column reports). Congo earlier in the year halted military action against the dreaded Hutu militias in Eastern Congo along the borders with Rwanda and Burundi, eventually causing General Nkunda to break away with his troops from the integrated Congolese army command and pursue the genocide killers of 1994 directly. This also caused friction with MONUC, the UN peace keeping force in Eastern Congo, who were equally said to have turned a fairly blind eye on the presence of hostile militias and other killer gangs on Congo's territory. Hope has been expressed that the talks are a stepping stone towards a peaceful settlement, but taking the Congo's lawless record into account, and the relative wait and see attitude of MONUC, this still seems a long shot until such time, that Congo really engages the rebels, militias and terror groups on her territory and brings them to justice.
Minor volcanic eruptions occurred at the Tanzanian Ol Donyo Lengai mountain (about 3.450 metres above sea level), with ash and some lava emerging from cracks and craters. This follows a period of increased seismic activity which resulted in earthquakes across the East African region. Pastoralist Masai villages in the immediate neighbourhood were evacuated and tourist traffic warned off the vicinity of the affected area. It is hoped that this 'volcanic relief' will bring to an end the earthquakes experienced in the past weeks. The Masai herdspeople believe that Ol Donyo Lengai, which is located in North-Western Tanzania near Lake Natron, is the seat of their ancient Gods. MARAUDING HERDSMEN DECIMATE PREDATORS The continued presence of pastoralists and their herds in Queen Elizabeth National Park is now reported to have been the main cause of multiple poisoning deaths of lions, leopards and hyenas. The bulk of the pastoralists were in early 2006 evicted from the Parc de Virunga in Congo DR, which adjoins the Ugandan national park and moved across the border. Their action has dropped the numbers of predators, considered vital to wildlife based tourism, to critically low levels, threatening the survival of those species in one of the most important national parks in the country. Dr. Ludwig Siefert of Makerere University and closely associated with a monitoring project of big predators in the country, has estimated that about 80 percent of the hyenas and literally all leopards in a certain part of the park have been killed since early 2006, when the herdsmen started to invade the park and graze their cattle illegally. It is also estimated that the number of lions which some years ago numbered over 90 now stands at less than 40 and to restore their numbers could take two decades under the strictest of protection. Government has long stood by indecisive over this issue, which is also a problem at Lake Mburo National Park, Kidepo National Park, Semliki Game Reserve and other 'protected areas'. Uganda Wildlife Authority has the mandate to deal with such issues but was several times stopped by political intervention and police orders, significantly reducing their ability to swiftly and comprehensively as and where they occur. Tourism bodies were also unusually mum over one of the biggest threats to their mainstream safari businesses and no public statements from Tourism Uganda, the Uganda Tourism Association nor the Uganda Tour Operators Association are available at this media organization's East Africa network. The Ministry of Tourism's past statements point to some obscure committee supposedly responsible to work out a solution, but none has come forth so far over many months in the face of deteriorating circumstances inside the park. If the situation is not immediately brought under control it is thought to have a serious impact on safari tourism in coming months, which in past years has been growing in leaps and bounds and is now a major economic factor in the country's economy. Specially ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in November this is now a matter of national importance to resolve or else risk to be perceived abroad on doing too little too late over wildlife conservation. Only recently did news emerge that bureaucrats had at the CITES conference applied and obtained permits to hunt leopards, again a grave matter in regard of conservation efforts (see respective past columns). In a related development, the cattle herds are also alleged to have brought the dreaded foot and mouth disease to the wild animals and having kept the herds in the park for so long has not helped to contain the disease. Monitor this space on further developments. ELDORET GETS MORE AIR CONNECTIONS This Western Kenyan town has now managed to get additional air connections with the capital city of Nairobi, when Jetlink and Fly540 both announced scheduled services to Eldoret. Fly 540 in fact lands in Eldoret en route to and from Kisumu, also providing an easy air connection between Eldoret and Kenya's lakeside city. Some time ago, when the airport runway of Kisumu was rehabilitated, flights were diverted to Eldoret as a relief measure. The airport had so far only connections through Aero Kenya and the upcoming competition is bound to reduce fares, while Aero Kenya has immediately added a third daily flight to their schedule, using a 19 seater aircraft. Eldoret has an international sized airport which has been grossly underutilised in the past and was literally idle, when cargo operations were banned for some time to allow investigations into a major smuggling operation using the airport as a conduit to bring undutied goods into Kenya. Operations have however resumed and the airport receives a limited number of cargo flights. The airport is not too popular with air operators due to its elevation and short runway, which imposes severe range restrictions on cargo flights fully loaded with fresh produce for export. MIGRATION TO THE MASAI MARA BEGINS Reports have been received from Kenyan tour operators, that the annual migration of the wildebeest and zebras has now reached the Mara River and is set to cross into the Masai Mara. Every year from July till late October or early November the Kenyan part of the border transcending Serengeti ecosystem is grazing ground for up to 1.5 million migrating animals, before they return to Tanzania in search of fresh pasture and to reach their birthing grounds in the low grass plains between Serengeti and Ngorongoro. The annual migration, immortalised by Alan Root's film 'The Year of the Wildebeest', is one of the most thrilling wildlife viewing spectacles on earth. Park authorities in Kenya are expecting nearly 100.000 visitors to be drawn to the Masai Mara this year over the migration period. SOUTH AFRICA TOURISM ROADSHOWS The South African tourism trade held roadshows across East Africa during the past week. The workshops and exhibitions attracted a large number of travel agents to the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, where the South Africans met their Uganda counterparts. Dozens of travel agents and tour operators staff who turned up for the functions wanted to know more about available packages for visitors to South Africa and were not disappointed. SAA is now operating 4 flights per week between Entebbe and Johannesburg and South Africa has become a popular travel and shopping destination for Ugandans. Unlike in previous years, when the roadshow was limited to Nairobi, this year all three capital cities plus Zanzibar were visited, reflecting the growing importance of travel between the two African regions. SPEKE RESORT REBUILDING TAKES SHAPE The Speke Resort and Conference Centre on the shores of Lake Victoria, located about 10 miles outside the Kampala business district, is gradually coming together, now that the addition of rooms and facilities is taking shape. The Commonwealth Presidential Village, a separate accommodation unit of about 65 VIP apartments, which is being purpose built for the November CHOGM summit, is nearing completion of the external construction and civic works. An extensive poolscape is being developed where formerly the marina was located, which itself is being relocated nearer to the lake itself, due to the fallen water levels. The owners are also adding a separate gym and health club facility adjoining to the main entrance of the resort. Watch this space for more updates on Uganda's hospitality industry and all the new meeting and hotel facilities coming on line over the coming months, ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in November this year. JINJA TURNS CENTENARIAN 100 years after being founded by traders and 50 years after being made a municipality by the British colonial administration, Jinja celebrates its centenary this week with pomp and glamour. The source of the mighty river Nile is located in Jinja at the former Rippon Falls, where Lake Victoria empties into the river and commences its long journey to the Mediterranean Sea. Many of East Africa's adventure tourism activities are located along the upper Nile valley, such as white water rafting, kayaking, quadbiking, cross country cycling, horseback safaris along the river shores and of course Uganda's only bungee jumping facility near the Jinja Nile Resort. The municipality has made a strong case to be turned into a city following its economic revival and value addition to the country's tourism industry and manufacturing sector. Uganda's national Hotel and Tourism Training Institute is also located in the municipality and attached to the Crested Crane Hotel. The Kingdom of Busoga, one of several ancient kingdoms across Uganda, is a leading cultural institutions and also presents itself as a key attraction for visitors to the Eastern part of Uganda, who want to explore the cultures and peoples of this East African nation besides coming for safaris and adventures.
AIR TANZANIA RELEASES
RECOVERY DETAILS The airline's previous failed partnership with South African Airways, which commenced in 2002 and ended in 2006, left the Tanzanian carrier with over 7 Million US Dollars in losses to make good for, so extra care will be taken in selection of financially capable and globally well reputed airlines, ruling out upstarts on fishing expeditions as well as bargain hunters. MGAHINGA GORILLAS RETURN
'HOME' CHOGM PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN
KICKS OFF CAA TO DIVEST COLD
STORAGE HOTEL OWNERS BLASTED FOR
LACK OF TRAINING EFFORTS BRUSSELS AIRLINES TO ADD
FOURTH ENTEBBE FLIGHT HOTEL AFRICANA EXTENSION
TO BE READY FOR CHOGM MOMBASA RUNWAY LIGHTS
FAIL The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development underwritten airline has at the very last moment thrown a long prepared start up strategy into the bin, ditching the two contracted modern CRJ aircraft in favour of ageing MD 87 models, and in the process delaying the commencement of operations by probably as much as 5-6 months. The airline was to have taken to the skies by end of June. It was also learned that the start up will probably take place with one aircraft only, while a second equally ageing MD might be added several months later. Travel industry sources expressed disappointment and disapproval with the change of time frame and in particular with the introduction of an old uneconomic aircraft type, while other airlines, specially in Kenya, now see an opening to commence operations on some of the planned routes themselves. This particularly applies to the Nairobi Entebbe route, for which Fly540 has reportedly expressed an interest. Other Kenyan airlines have also apparently secured traffic rights into Entebbe already when learning of these news. Meanwhile both Air Tanzania and Precision Air can now take a commanding lead with their new upcoming flight schedules and their new aircraft on the route between Dar es Salaam / Kilimanjaro / Entebbe, leaving any eventual newcomer trailing in their wake. It was also pointed out that there are now visible similarities with previous failed start ups in Uganda, which also used ageing aircraft. Those aviation oldtimers were then, as it is now, considered too large for a start up, too fuel guzzling and without the back up of the second aircraft the respective operations were prone to schedule collapses when their sole aircraft experienced a technical problem. This development is also in stark contrast with regional aviation giant Kenya Airways, which is amongst the airlines with orders for the state of the art Boeing 787 Dreamliner. KQ is due for their first deliveries of the new planes in 2010. The new aircraft (9 on order) are said to cut fuel cost by up to 20 percent, helping the airline to maintain long term profitability. Kenya Airways arguably has the youngest fleet in the African skies, comprising largely Boeing aircraft, while two brand new Embraer 170 aircraft are being delivered this month to assist in taking care of the sharp traffic growth in domestic and regional traffic. Any aviation newcomer will therefore either have to match Kenya Airways' modern aircraft in order to successfully challenge KQ's regional supremacy or else accept to become just another upstart with old planes, and no amount of paint and retrofitting of cabins can dupe to public to believe otherwise. Watch this space for the latest news. SOFTPOWER EXTENDS SERVICES TO MURCHISONS AREA Softpower, a UK originating local NGO hitherto active in the Jinja area around Bujagali Falls, has now spread its wings and began their first project outside Murchisons Falls National Park. Closely associated with Nile River Explorers, Uganda's leading rafting company, the NGO started several years ago supporting schools in the neighbourhood of Bujagali, and has since built, renovated, expanded and modernized over 20 schools. Last year they opened a community centre near the falls, where young people can learn skills like pottery and carpentry and have also established a community health centre with support of a US based medical doctor. Tourists initially started contributing funds but the idea gained momentum and many now come back to Jinja to volunteer some of their vacation time in helping build and work on new sites, besides financially supporting the noble project. Find out more about their tourism based community engagement by visiting their website at www.softpowereducation.com EAGLE AIR LAUNCHES BEECH 1900 Uganda's largest privately owned passenger airline, Eagle Air, just launched their newly acquired Beech 1900 aircraft, which comes in addition to their 4 LET 410 airliners and other assorted light aircraft. Eagle serves the Ugandan domestic market with a comprehensive network across the country, but also flies to the South Sudan towns of Yei and Juba and destinations in Eastern Congo. They also carry out charter flights across the East, Central and Southern African region. Present at the launch were the Minister for Works and Transport, Hon. John Nasasira, Civil Aviation board members and management and members of the aviation fraternity. The new aircraft offers a pressurised cabin, has a higher cruising speed and attains higher cruising altitude compared with the LET 410's, making flights more comfortable for passengers. All the best to Eagle for a bright future and happy landings for the new craft. KENYAN TOUR OPERATORS COMPLAIN ABOUT MAIN ROAD INTO UGANDA A section of Kenyan tour operators, who are regularly sending visitors by road into Uganda, have complained about the state of the roads on both sides of the border. In Kenya a section of the road, heavily used by trucks ferrying cargo to Uganda and the African hinterland, has been giving problems with long traffic jams along a broken up section of the highway. The same has happened in Uganda, where the main road from Bugiri to Jinja has been under construction for several years. The initial contractor has been sacked over non performance but subsequently too little has happened towards completion of this crucial section of the key traffic artery. The road serves not only to supply Uganda but also Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo and Southern Sudan, and brings in tourist traffic by road from Western Kenya. Few comments were available from the Ministry of Works and Communication by the time of going to press other than 'if only we had the funds' … AIR TANZANIA AIMS AT FULL RECOVERY The new board of directors and management, now in place for a few months, have vigorously embarked on a recovery programme for the Tanzanian national airline. It is understood, that while partnerships are not being ruled out, but at equitable terms unlike the failed alliances in the past, the airline is set to acquire new aircraft and will reclaim its status as 'the' Tanzanian airline. Both domestic as well as regional routes are likely to be restored soon, having left the field for too long to Kenya Airways' Tanzanian partner airline Precision Air. Entebbe is presently being served three times a week from Dar es Salaam via Kilimanjaro / Arusha but plans are afoot to restore daily flights. It was also learned that the planned daily flights on jet aircraft by Precision Air to Entebbe have been shelved for some more time in favour of continued ATR operations, which would avail a prime opportunity to Air Tanzania to re-establish itself as the main carrier between the two countries MASS OVER CLASS? A fresh debate has broken out in Tanzania to establish more lodges and tented camps inside the Serengeti National Park, which presently offers a fraction of the beds on offer in the Kenyan Masai Mara. However it is also acknowledged that the Masai Mara is substantially overpopulated with accommodation facilities and a development moratorium has been self-imposed there to study the adverse affects on the ecosystem caused by the environmental impact. The desire to tap into the rich tourist potential, most of whom would want to stay inside a national park rather than in a lodge outside the protected area, is clearly visible but maximum caution should of course be exercised to avoid the mistakes made elsewhere. CCTV COMING FOR KAMPALA Ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in November this year CCTV cameras will be installed at Entebbe International Airport, along the Entebbe &endash; Kampala main road and across the capital city's business district, key roads and intersections and selected routes to the main hotels and conference venues. However, the recently installed solar and wind powered street lighting along Entebbe road has already failed, leaving a crucial part of town without any lights at night. This caused energetic protests by Kampaleans against the inept city administration, which has failed city residents time and again. MERIDIANA AFRICA AIRLINES TIME FRAME COLLAPSES OVER STRATEGY ISSUES The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development underwritten airline has at the very last moment thrown a long prepared start up strategy into the bin, ditching the two contracted modern CRJ aircraft in favour of ageing MD 87 models, and in the process delaying the commencement of operations by probably as much as 5-6 months. The airline was to have taken to the skies by end of June. It was also learned that the start up will probably take place with one aircraft only, while a second equally ageing MD might be added several months later. Travel industry sources expressed disappointment and disapproval with the change of time frame and in particular with the introduction of an old uneconomic aircraft type, while other airlines, specially in Kenya, now see an opening to commence operations on some of the planned routes themselves. This particularly applies to the Nairobi Entebbe route, for which Fly540 has reportedly expressed an interest. Other Kenyan airlines have also apparently secured traffic rights into Entebbe already when learning of these news. Meanwhile both Air Tanzania and Precision Air can now take a commanding lead with their new upcoming flight schedules and their new aircraft on the route between Dar es Salaam / Kilimanjaro / Entebbe, leaving any eventual newcomer trailing in their wake. It was also pointed out that there are now visible similarities with previous failed start ups in Uganda, which also used ageing aircraft. Those aviation oldtimers were then, as it is now, considered too large for a start up, too fuel guzzling and without the back up of the second aircraft the respective operations were prone to schedule collapses when their sole aircraft experienced a technical problem. This development is also in stark contrast with regional aviation giant Kenya Airways, which is amongst the airlines with orders for the state of the art Boeing 787 Dreamliner. KQ is due for their first deliveries of the new planes in 2010. The new aircraft (9 on order) are said to cut fuel cost by up to 20 percent, helping the airline to maintain long term profitability. Kenya Airways arguably has the youngest fleet in the African skies, comprising largely Boeing aircraft, while two brand new Embraer 170 aircraft are being delivered this month to assist in taking care of the sharp traffic growth in domestic and regional traffic. Any aviation newcomer will therefore either have to match Kenya Airways' modern aircraft in order to successfully challenge KQ's regional supremacy or else accept to become just another upstart with old planes, and no amount of paint and retrofitting of cabins can dupe to public to believe otherwise. Watch this space for the latest news. SOFTPOWER EXTENDS SERVICES TO MURCHISONS AREA Softpower, a UK originating local NGO hitherto active in the Jinja area around Bujagali Falls, has now spread its wings and began their first project outside Murchisons Falls National Park. Closely associated with Nile River Explorers, Uganda's leading rafting company, the NGO started several years ago supporting schools in the neighbourhood of Bujagali, and has since built, renovated, expanded and modernized over 20 schools. Last year they opened a community centre near the falls, where young people can learn skills like pottery and carpentry and have also established a community health centre with support of a US based medical doctor. Tourists initially started contributing funds but the idea gained momentum and many now come back to Jinja to volunteer some of their vacation time in helping build and work on new sites, besides financially supporting the noble project. Find out more about their tourism based community engagement by visiting their website at www.softpowereducation.com EAGLE AIR LAUNCHES BEECH 1900 Uganda's largest privately owned passenger airline, Eagle Air, just launched their newly acquired Beech 1900 aircraft, which comes in addition to their 4 LET 410 airliners and other assorted light aircraft. Eagle serves the Ugandan domestic market with a comprehensive network across the country, but also flies to the South Sudan towns of Yei and Juba and destinations in Eastern Congo. They also carry out charter flights across the East, Central and Southern African region. Present at the launch were the Minister for Works and Transport, Hon. John Nasasira, Civil Aviation board members and management and members of the aviation fraternity. The new aircraft offers a pressurised cabin, has a higher cruising speed and attains higher cruising altitude compared with the LET 410's, making flights more comfortable for passengers. All the best to Eagle for a bright future and happy landings for the new craft. KENYAN TOUR OPERATORS COMPLAIN ABOUT MAIN ROAD INTO UGANDA A section of Kenyan tour operators, who are regularly sending visitors by road into Uganda, have complained about the state of the roads on both sides of the border. In Kenya a section of the road, heavily used by trucks ferrying cargo to Uganda and the African hinterland, has been giving problems with long traffic jams along a broken up section of the highway. The same has happened in Uganda, where the main road from Bugiri to Jinja has been under construction for several years. The initial contractor has been sacked over non performance but subsequently too little has happened towards completion of this crucial section of the key traffic artery. The road serves not only to supply Uganda but also Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo and Southern Sudan, and brings in tourist traffic by road from Western Kenya. Few comments were available from the Ministry of Works and Communication by the time of going to press other than 'if only we had the funds' … AIR TANZANIA AIMS AT FULL RECOVERY The new board of directors and management, now in place for a few months, have vigorously embarked on a recovery programme for the Tanzanian national airline. It is understood, that while partnerships are not being ruled out, but at equitable terms unlike the failed alliances in the past, the airline is set to acquire new aircraft and will reclaim its status as 'the' Tanzanian airline. Both domestic as well as regional routes are likely to be restored soon, having left the field for too long to Kenya Airways' Tanzanian partner airline Precision Air. Entebbe is presently being served three times a week from Dar es Salaam via Kilimanjaro / Arusha but plans are afoot to restore daily flights. It was also learned that the planned daily flights on jet aircraft by Precision Air to Entebbe have been shelved for some more time in favour of continued ATR operations, which would avail a prime opportunity to Air Tanzania to re-establish itself as the main carrier between the two countries. MASS OVER CLASS? A fresh debate has broken out in Tanzania to establish more lodges and tented camps inside the Serengeti National Park, which presently offers a fraction of the beds on offer in the Kenyan Masai Mara. However it is also acknowledged that the Masai Mara is substantially overpopulated with accommodation facilities and a development moratorium has been self-imposed there to study the adverse affects on the ecosystem caused by the environmental impact. The desire to tap into the rich tourist potential, most of whom would want to stay inside a national park rather than in a lodge outside the protected area, is clearly visible but maximum caution should of course be exercised to avoid the mistakes made elsewhere. CCTV COMING FOR KAMPALA Ahead of the Commonwealth Summit in November this year CCTV cameras will be installed at Entebbe International Airport, along the Entebbe &endash; Kampala main road and across the capital city's business district, key roads and intersections and selected routes to the main hotels and conference venues. However, the recently installed solar and wind powered street lighting along Entebbe road has already failed, leaving a crucial part of town without any lights at night. This caused energetic protests by Kampaleans against the inept city administration, which has failed city residents time and again. STOWAWAY FALLS OFF PLANE Aviation security was once again breached when a young man managed to enter the restricted area and apparently hid in the wheel well of a departing cargo plane. Security is now searching for accomplices who must have helped the young man gain access to the airside, approach the plane and hide himself away. However, after the plane took off the young man fell to his death. It is a sign of desperate attempts to go abroad and earn money. Ugandans are estimated to send over 650 Million US Dollars home every year but many more seek economic fortunes abroad and are prepared to take just about any risk. Only a few months ago, as reported in this column, a Somali man managed to beat security at their own game, entered the aircraft parking area and set fire to a UN plane's wheels before being chased down and arrested. Oooops. NILE RIVER EXPLORERS OFFER FREE SHUTTLE Jinja's premier rafting company on the upper Nile has once again broken new ground by offering a free shuttle service (bookings mandatory but free of cost) between Kampala and their Bujagali Falls river base. The transport leaves Kampala from three locations between 07.00 hrs and 07.45 hrs, reaching Jinja by about 09.00 hrs in the morning and returns every evening from the river site at 18.00 hrs. Pick up points are at the Backpackers, the Lugogo Shopping Mall / Game Megastore and the Red Chilli Hideaway. Contact rafting@starcom.co.ug for more details or for bookings of some of the most spectacular white water rafting and visit www.raftafrica.com or www.nileporch.com for more information. JINJA NILE RESORT RENOVATIONS COMPLETE Following a fire in 2004, which destroyed part of the main building at the time, the owners, Kenyan based Mada Hotels, spent over 4.5 Million US Dollars in reconstruction and installation of modern safety features. A recent tour of the renovated facility by tourism officials was also told that the resort hotel was ready for the November Commonwealth Summit and the extra visitors the country was expecting on that occasion. Jinja Nile Resort is generally considered the best conventional hotel facility in Jinja. However, a number of fine guest houses and bed and breakfast operations have in recent years emerged along the upper Nile valley and within the municipality. Jinja is also home of Uganda's national Hotel and Tourism Training Institute, located at the Crested Crane Hotel. The tourism fraternity in Jinja has adopted the name' East Africa's adventure capital' in view of the multitude of activities now offered for visitors, which range from the traditional white water rafting to float trips for families, kayaking, quad biking, cross country cycling, nature walks, bungee jumping, horseback safaris, fishing and of course bird watching along the lake and river shores. KARUME GETS ANOTHER TERM OF OFFICE AS HOTEL CHAIR Ms. Lucy Karume was just elected to another two year term as Chairperson of the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers. The meeting took place in Mombasa. Mr. Richard Kimenyi, General Manager of the Norfolk Hotel, was elected as Vice Chairperson. The gathering also heard from Mr. Philip Kisia, Managing Director of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, about the growing potential of conference tourism, which in his estimate could yield up to 30 Billion Kenya Shillings if properly exploited and top out at as much as 100 Billion. Kenya hosted over 200 international conferences and meetings in 2006, which constitute an increase of almost 13 percent over the 2005 figures. All East African countries have been promoting MICE business more aggressively in the recent past due to its earning potential and the exposure it gives to the respective countries and their tourism sectors. In the same meeting NEMA came under sustained criticism for their uncoordinated direction vis-à-vis environmental protection. The agency stood accused of working in isolation and missing the bigger picture, while imposing prohibitive cost on the hotel industry. HOTEL SCHOOL TO OFFER CHINESE COURSES Proposals are at an advanced stage to add Chinese language classes to the existing German and French classes at Uganda's national Hotel and Tourism Training Institute. China and Uganda have an existing Memorandum of Understanding for tourism cooperation and Uganda is an approved destination, allowing Chinese citizens to visit. With Chinese economic cooperation at an all time high in many economic sectors, interest has also risen in holiday visits. However, the lack of language capacity has been a problem and the introduction of courses will in coming years help Ugandans to competently speak the language and look after Chinese visitors as guides and interpreters. FUEL PRICES UP As of July 01st the new increased fuel tax has kicked in and promptly raised prices for petrol and diesel by up to 200 Uganda Shillings and 150 Uganda Shillings respectively. The move follows the abandonment of the historical annual road licence fee, which was abolished due to collection problems, forgeries of certificates and enforcement difficulties. The cost rise may impact on quotations for road safaris and would be visitors are advised to check with their respective operators. RIFT VALLEY RAILWAYS PAYS UP Information has been received that RVR has commenced their scheduled quarterly payments to the government of Kenya and Uganda as a result of their obligations under the concession agreement, which allows the South African led company to operate the joint railways systems. The 25 year contract requires RVR to pay an 11 percent revenue based fee to government on a quarterly basis. DAALLO SHOWS INTEREST IN ENTEBBE The UAE and Djibouti based privately owned airline has expressed their desire to commence operations into and beyond Entebbe of both cargo and passenger services. In a recent meeting with H.E. President Yoweri Museveni the group discussed their interest in aviation and other potential investment areas in Uganda. ISTITHMAR EYES AFRICAN AIRLINE INVESTMENT The Dubai / UAE based investment firm has recently announced its intent to acquire a majority stake in a yet to be named African airline. The continent's aviation business has been thriving in recent years and safety initiatives like IATA's operational safety audits have further assisted in making aviation not only safer but also more interesting to global investors. Pretenders have always been sniffing around African airline to pick up bargains, but with governments now generally more wary and alert to non performers, the arrival of such serious investors, as Istithmar obviously are, can only spell positive for the aviation industry on the continent. Taking aviation in the Gulf area as an example (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Oman Air to name a few), which is now offering the youngest fleets in the skies and the biggest backlog in state of the art aircraft orders, anyone now coming into Africa with ageing equipment and outdated management practises will be promptly exposed for what they are, less than serious 'partners' in developing Africa and best to be shown the door. SOUTH AFRICAN ADDS MORE NAIROBI FLIGHTS From beginning of July onwards SAA will add three morning flights from Johannesburg to Nairobi besides their daily afternoon departures, to cater for sharply risen demand on the route. The extra flights will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. South African Airways is presently undergoing restructuring which will see the company divided into several legally separate profit centres. Major staff redundancies are also expected, as the airline seeks a return to profitability. This will include the grounding of their six Boeing 747's, leaving a fleet of 32 Airbus models and 21 Boeing 737-800 in service. NEW NILE TREATY PROVES ELUSIVE In the latest round of meetings of the Nile tributary states in Entebbe / Uganda kept struggling to reach agreement on a final version of the Nile River Pact, which is to succeed the two Nile River Treaties of 1929 and 1959. Those treaties were imposed on the East African states by the British colonial administration on independence and have ever since been hotly disputed. Some countries openly denounced those treaties and vowed not to abide by them any longer, which finally brought Egypt and Sudan to the negotiating tables. The Council of Ministers of the riparian states found it hard to reach agreement on certain wordings and interpretations of the new agreement, but also on the definition of the 'real' source of the River Nile. This issue was brought to the forefront by some foreign adventurers who in a self promoting journey tried to put the source of the Nile from Jinja to the spring location of another river beyond Lake Victoria and by doing so perpetrating a great misdeed towards the historically accepted 'Source of the Nile', where Lake Victoria empties into the river. The main beneficiaries of the old 1929/1959 treaty are also suspected to use this issue to further divide the East African nations and cloud the main issue, which is to ensure that sovereign rights over the waters of both tributary rivers and the respective lakes (mainly Victoria, Kyoga and Albert) are vested in and remain with the respective countries, first and foremost. Emerging from the Nile Basin Initiative, a new 'Nile Basin Commission' is to be formed in due course to continue dealing with contentious issues.
After the low lake levels of early last year, which caused substantial electricity generating capacity to be taken off line to stabilise the water level of Lake Victoria, water rises have now been recorded. Sufficient rain falls and water conservation measures have resulted in a 40 cm rise of water levels at the Jinja Owen Falls Dam over the past few months. From a low of 10.41 metres the levels measured by January last year (2006) it reached 10.90 metres in January 2007 and now stand at 11.30 meters. Should the trend continue electricity production can once again be increased and the regular load shedding (blackouts) be decreased accordingly. KABALE &endash; KISORO ROAD REHAB DELAYS The promised starting date to reconstruct and tarmac this important road link between some of the most scenic parts of Uganda has passed and no sign of activity has been seen yet. The road will be funded with the help of African Development Bank support and construction was due to start in May this year. With almost two months passed beyond the starting date, disappointment and anger has started to ooze from the affected public. A statement was available from the Ministry of Works and Transport by the time of going to press, blaming lack of funds for acquisition of land for the project, adding that the contractors would 'soon get the first 30 KM of the road handed over' and 'construction would take about 36 months'. The road is used for tourist traffic to the main gorilla national parks of Bwindi and Mgahinga, serves as road link to the borders of Rwanda and Congo DR and is a main market access road for produce from the region to the main consumer markets in the capital city Kampala.
MORE GUIDES GRADUATE The Uganda Safari Guide Association, once again with support of the Uganda Sustainable Tourism Development Programme, has graduated yet more driver guides after a month long course in Queen Elizabeth National Park's education centre. The ongoing courses are aimed to introduce greater professionalism into the industry and also prepare the tourism fraternity for the forthcoming Commonwealth Summit in November this year. A final support measure by UGSTDP before the programme ends this weekend was the financing of yet another course commencing shortly, aimed at the cultural guide segment, to provide the specialist guides with more knowledge and skills. Uganda Safari Guide Association chairman Herbert Byaruhanga also pledged to continue with more training sessions and seeking funding from other sources to promote human resource development and allow young tourism course graduates carve out a market niche for themselves.
BUDGET TARGETS HOTEL SECTOR The tax and duty free honeymoon for hoteliers will be over on July 01st, according to the budget presented to Parliament by Hon. Dr. Ezra Suruma, the Ugandan Minister of Finance. Tax and duty incentives granted to the hotel sector to stimulate the building of new hotels ahead of the much awaited Commonwealth Summit in November this year have indeed contributed to the construction of new hotels and the expansion and rehabilitation of existing properties. Now, that most of the building work is either finished or substantially advanced, the concessions are being withdrawn again. However, a transition period, to finish ongoing projects, has been granted until the end of the year to complete ongoing work. ENVIRONMENT TOO BENEFITS FROM 2007/8 BUDGET The new budget read to Parliament on 14th June also proposed the banning of plastic bags and all existing stocks have to be used, or subsequently re-exported or destroyed by the last quarter of the year. The introduction of the plastic bags and small factories to produce them locally in the early 90's was very controversial at the time and hotly disputed by environmentalists, but it nevertheless took government over 13 years to realise the accumulative destructive impact of the plastic bags on the environment and come around to banning it. Well done anyway, late as it is. QUO VADIS TOURISM The tourism industry, and specifically the tourist board's budget needs, was conspicuously omitted from the budget reading, unlike in previous years. Some sources, this correspondent spoke to on the occasion of the annual ICPAU (Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda) Budget Breakfast and various other functions organized by leading audit and financial consultancy firms, attributed this development to a visible lack of sectoral lobbying on Private Sector Foundation level but also in direct interaction between the Uganda Tourism Association and government, as was successfully done over the past several years, when the tourism sector was at the very heart of pre-budget discussions with the Ministry of Finance. Hence, no tax or duty concessions were given for the importation of purpose built safari vehicles or other related equipment like boats, which is urgently needed to build up capacity matching the extra hotel rooms build over the past 24 months. The new tourism bill with the built-in funding mechanism for the sector (tourism development fund levy) is not yet passed by parliament and the tourist board is expected to struggle over the next financial year to make ends meet and fulfil the expectations of the industry as to trade fair participation, publicity programmes and road shows. The EU funded Uganda Sustainable Tourism Development Programme (UGSTDP) is ending on 30th June and will then only finalise accounting and audits until end September. It has been a major contributor to Uganda's tourism promotion and marketing over the past 4 years and will be sorely missed, not just the funding but the sound advice and guidance for the sector of especially the Chief Technical Advisor Mr. Stanley Wilson and his helpful programme assistant Ann Teddy Awori. In the meantime, the new budget has introduced a new hotel tax which local councils can levy on hotels in order to support their local budgets but no percentage figure has yet been set. Watch this space for the details once they become available. EARTHQUAKE ROCKS REGION A 5.9 (Richter scale) quake shook the Lake Albert border region between Uganda and Congo once again last Friday night at 21.49 hrs. Although several hundred kilometres away from the capital city, the minute long tremors were still felt substantially in Kampala, causing some objects in this correspondent's residence to fall off shelves. Shouts of anxious residents filled the night air until the earth calmed down again. The epicentre is suspected to be in the same area where some months ago a similar quake struck. The Great African Rift Valley, which also crosses Uganda, is a seismologically active area including active volcanoes near the Eastern Congolese town of Goma. No immediate damage reports were available. PRECISION AIR ATTAINS IOSA CERTIFICATION The privately owned Tanzanian airline, in which Kenya Airways holds a 49 percent stake, has just concluded the IATA operational safety audit after passing the final audit stages in April this year. The airline is the 9th on the African continent to meet the demanding standards on operational safety standards. All IATA airlines in Africa have to comply with the IATA directive to attain certification by the end of 2007 or risk loosing IATA membership status and interlining agreements with other certified carriers. This is further expected to make life more difficult for upstart airlines now wanting to enter the markets due to the increased cost involved in conducting the initial gap analysis and then going through the lengthy certification process but at the same time will also increase safety for passengers flying across Africa, where accident rates have stayed amongst the highest in the world. Precision Air is due for an ambitious fleet and route expansion programme in coming months and has established itself as Tanzania's leading airline for domestic and regional flights. RWANDAIR PRIVATISATION DECISION DUE BY END JUNE Rwanda's national airline will decide by the end of the month which suitor they will welcome for investment into the carrier. Belgium's national carrier Brusselsairlines is the leading contender, having submitted a comprehensive business proposal to increase flight links (passengers and cargo) with Europe and also expand the regional routes. Brusselsairlines is already flying twice a week from Brussels to Kigali and a third flight per week could be on the drawing board if the two airlines come to sign an agreement. It is also understood that suitable aircraft, presently operated by Brusselsairlines in Europe, under the proposed deal could be placed in Rwanda to allow for fleet and route expansion, which is thought to also include Eastern Congo DR destinations. Rwandair presently uses a wetleased B737-500 (from Air Malawi) for regional and continental flights and another wetleased Dash 8 for the shorter routes to Bujumbura, Entebbe and domestic services. Watch this space for emerging news. EAST AFRICA EXPANDS TO 5 The just concluded Kampala Summit of the East African Community Heads of State has formally admitted Rwanda and Burundi into the organization after several months of preparations. Their full membership will be effective on 01st July this year. The total population of the EAC has now grown to just over 115 million people while the size of the enlarged EAC is now about 1.9 million square kilometres. The summit also dealt with other pending matters and matters arising in regard of further harmonization of laws and economic policies. Important for visitors is the new range of VISA fees for Uganda which has moved to the same levels as for Kenya and Tanzania. The cost is now US Dollars 50 per visit, up from previously US Dollars 30. The common market for East Africa, with zero internal tariffs for trade amongst the member states, is to commence by 2010, with the present combined GDP standing at about 41 Billion US Dollars. A full political integration, with a separate legislature, judiciary and an elected Federation President is to be in place by 2013. Several protocols are now waiting to be operationalised, including the free movement of labour, which will effectively do away with the need for work permits for East African citizens. Also on the drawing board is a common currency unit, towards which the respective Central Banks are already working. Community capital is Arusha, otherwise also known for its vicinity to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and being the starting place for safaris to the famous national parks Ngorongoro and Serengeti. ELEPHANTS GET REPRIEVE The CITES Convention meeting in Holland has now resolved to allow a one off sale of documented ivory stocks for some Southern African nations, but kept the door closed to resuming general trade in elephant products for at least another 9 years. This decision is seen as a victory to the position of the East African nations, where poaching has always increased once even the remotest possibility was sensed by the market that trade may reopen. This is however in stark contrast to the Ugandan delegations application to allow trophy hunting for leopards up to 28 animals per year, which is perceived to be a low blow to conservation efforts. Investigations have been launched by the conservation fraternity to establish those responsible for this ill conceived action and expose them to the general public and the global conservation community.
UGANDA TOURISM ASSOCIATION GETS NEW BOARD UTA, Uganda's tourism industry apex body, held an Annual General Meeting last week at the Hotel Equatoria in Kampala. Over 50 representatives from the 8 member associations representing the international airlines (BAR), the tour and safari operators (AUTO), the hotel sector (HCAU), the domestic and charter airlines (UAAO), tourism training institutions (UATTI), community tourism (UCOTA), the travel agents (TUGATA), the safari guide associations (USAGA) and also of the district tourism associations from across Uganda met to conduct annual business, discuss a new modern management structure and new organs for the organisation and elect a new board. Proposals developed for UTA over the past two and a half years by Mr. Charles Abola, tourism consultant for the EU funded Uganda Sustainable Tourism Development Programme at the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry were discussed and in the end approved by substantial majority votes, allowing the new Board to embark on the implementation of these plans. The EU programme, while winding up by mid 2007, has pledged to assist in the creation of a tourism industry secretariat operated by UTA and serving equitably the diverse interests of the UTA member associations. Outgoing President Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome delivered his final report on the state of the tourism industry and presented a rosy picture of UTA's achievements over the past years but also of the renewed and respected standing of tourism in the economy as a leading foreign exchange earner and major job creator. The newly elected President and immediate former Minister of State for Tourism, Hon. Jovino Akaki Ayumu paid tribute to the outgoing Board, having of course interacted with them for many years when serving in government, for having 'put tourism on the map again' and been ardent defenders of sectoral interests, 'diplomatic where necessary and not so diplomatic where required'. Efforts to infiltrate one of the mouthpieces of the former Geotourism grouping in absentia to a Board position were also soundly defeated as it was immediately apparent that this would breach the UTA constitution. The obscure entity, which was promoted by a USAID project and has since the departure of their godfathers gone awol, was for some time aimed to dismantle and destroy the institutional structure and framework of the tourism private sector and replace it in the image of its clearly biased sponsors, but failed to make an impact on the national scene and folded, when the funds had dried up, leaving UTA as the undisputed industry body representing the broad cross section of the sector. The unanimous and unopposed election as UTA President of the former Minister, who has since his retirement from politics a year ago joined the tourism private sector, was generally hailed as a mature measure of recognition by his peers that the office of President of UTA has over the years grown in significance and importance and required a person of undisputed standing. It had become obvious that the position needed a seasoned individual with excellent networking capacity, ability to reach out and unite and broad recognition within government circles and respect from the private sector, without controversy surrounding him. This was felt paramount to continue with the policy of constructive engagement between private and public sectors rather than potentially having an egocentric rabble-rouser aspiring for office in search of personal glory. Well-done Hon. Akaki and all the best in coming years.
DIESEL SHORTAGE BITES HARDER Since last week's column prices for diesel have continued to rise to unprecedented levels in view of the ongoing shortage of the commodity. Blame has in particular been apportioned to the Kenya Revenue Authority demanding crippling terms to have fuel uplifted by tankers from the harbour in Mombasa, since the pipeline has not only reached its capacity limits but also broke down several times in recent weeks. Ugandan fuel companies claim that up to 6 Million Dollars of their money demanded by KRA as bonds, have not ever been refunded and refused to entertain any further bonds or charges. This view was backed by a delegation led by the Minister for Energy from Uganda to Kenya last week seeking relief for the transporters and intervening on government level to scrap any further bond payments. It is generally thought typical of the archaic tax authority in Kenya which never seems to be able to deal with such emergency situations and has in the past also inflicted similar damage on Rwandan, Burundian, South Sudanese and Eastern Congolese transporters and importers. In the meantime many fuel stations in Western Kenya and across Uganda have ran out of diesel causing long lines of vehicles seeking a few litres from the stations with some little reserves. The thermal power plants presently operating in Uganda consume massive amounts of diesel and also had to cut power production overnight, when between midnight and 6 am large parts of the country are once again without lights. The shortage is expected to ease a little over the weekend when the Ugandan fuel companies will be have been able to supply directly out of Mombasa, until the pipeline has been reopened and when special trains carrying the commodity will have reached the national fuel depots in Jinja. This however may also be impacted upon by the poor state of the main road between Kenya and Uganda where in the Timboroa area of Western Kenya the road is said to be in a pathetic state, causing extensive back log by trucks while on the Ugandan side the road in the Bugiri District is still under construction. Much of the damage to roads in the region is cause by heavily overloaded trucks, as traffic police seems unable to stop the practise inspite of the heavy cost inflicted on the regional economies by road repairs and reconstruction.
NOW BRUSSELS AIRLINES ALSO ADDS EXTRA FLIGHT TO EAST AFRICA Brussels Airlines has for some time now been connecting the European capital city with Kigali (twice a week), Entebbe (thrice a week) and Nairobi in a triangular flight. A decision was now announced that a 6th flight to East Africa will start via Bujumbura / Burundi to Nairobi, bringing stops in the Kenyan capital city to a total of 6 per week.
HAPLESS AYA BROTHERS HALT 'HILTON' CONSTRUCTION A dumbstruck looking Hamid Mohamed announced a few days ago that construction of the much fanfared hotel on Nakasero hill in Kampala was to be 'halted'. The project, dogged from the beginning by controversy and inconsistent statements, is now officially 'not going to be ready for the Commonwealth Summit' said one of the owners, now claiming 'it was never targeted for CHOGM'. Industry observers always disputed that a hotel of this size could be completed in Uganda in this timeframe but were always curtly told of by the brothers. This latest admission is of course in stark contrast to their earlier &endash; and obviously misleading &endash; statements that the hotel would be ready for the summit, one of the reasons they were given this prized property in the first place. Much controversy had arisen over displacing the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation from its age long location, causing in the process disruptions in transmissions and an outcry from the public over unjustified give away of public land. When taking possession of the land the full mouthed brothers attempted to teach the hotel sector in Uganda lessons, but with their background rooted in milling they obviously found out at their own &endash; and a national &endash; cost, that talk alone would not make them expert hoteliers overnight. One of the infamous statements was, that for a 300-room hotel they would 'employ about 2.000 people whom we shall begin to train after 6 months'. This certainly novel approach to create a skilled workforce in the hospitality industry drew acid and sarcastic criticism from seasoned hotel operators' staff asked for comments at the time. Public relations of the brothers were rocky from the start over their regular big statements and promises, only to be retracted one by one at a later stage. The Hilton Corporation has also never been willing to confirm or deny that they had indeed signed a contract to manage the hotel upon completion but Hilton is also known to be prudent enough to treat rudderless developers of this ilk with utmost caution. The hotel construction has reportedly, after almost a year of dillydallying along, reached only second floor level, out of the proposed 22 floors. Watch this space for more developments over this sad saga.
CAA TO INSTALL DCS SYSTEM AT ENTEBBE ENHAS, Uganda's leading airport handling company, had some time ago proposed to equip the check-in area of Entebbe International Airport with an electronic check-in system to facilitate airlines not using their own fixed or mobile units. This however was denied at the time by the Civil Aviation Authority, which also manages the airport, in an apparent conflict of interest. After now almost 1 ? years it seems that finally CAA itself has now selected a service provider for this modernization and information given to this correspondent indicates that by October this year a generally compatible system will be installed. All airlines will then be compelled to use the system, and of course pay for it, irrespective of the investments individually undertaken for own, mostly mobile check in units, which will be required to interface with the CAA system. In the meantime government has allowed CAA to borrow some Uganda Shillings 52 Billion or almost 30 Million US Dollars to renovate, expand and modernize the airport in Entebbe. This will include the creation of a domestic terminal, a dedicated Presidential / VVIP terminal, the introduction of airbridges and the eventual relocation of the cargo section to a new cargo village. Presently an extension to the arrival hall is being constructed, effectively doubling the arrival spaces and key works are expected to be ready for the Commonwealth Summit in November.
SUDAN AIRWAYS STRUGGLES AGAIN ON RETURN TO ENTEBBE Full-mouthed statements by the Sudanese national airline to return to Entebbe after some time of absence with three flights from Khartoum via Juba have proved too much for the airline to put into action. Their flight loads are reportedly low and instead of 3 flights a week only one flight is presently operating with a very modest passenger load. Southern Sudanese travellers are said to loath the idea of travelling on an airline controlled by Khartoum and continue to fly on Royal Daisy Airlines, which offers 6 weekly flights from Entebbe to Juba and on to Malakal on Embraer 120 equipment, while Eagle Air operates several flights a week from Entebbe via Yei / South Sudan to Juba on LET 410 aircraft. Watch this space for news on aviation from Uganda and the region. PRECISION AIR BUYS ADDITIONAL ATR Tanzanian private carrier Precision Air has now announced the firm purchase order for a 7th ATR aircraft from the French manufacturer. This column reported some months ago a near 100 Million US Dollar deal the airline signed up for 3 each ATR 42 and ATR 72, cum spare parts package and training components, and the additional aircraft order reflects the growing demand for air travel across the region. Precision Air has over the past few years benefited from its association with Kenya Airways, which in 2003 acquired a 49 percent stake, but also from the decline of Air Tanzania, which industry observers now hold entirely against South African Airways' failed business plan and policies, when they managed the airline until the inevitable break-up of the joint venture last year. Precision serves a number of domestic destinations across Tanzania but also Zanzibar, Mombasa, Nairobi and Entebbe in the region and two new destinations in Mozambique and the island of Pemba. The remaining LET 410, currently deployed on the Mwanza &endash; Bukoba route is also due to be retired from the fleet shortly. Passengers carried on an annualised basis are expected to reach just under 400.000 for their recently ended financial year. KENYA AIRWAYS TO INTRODUCE EMBRAER 170 AIRCRAFT In their continued drive to not only remain Africa's premier airline but also to become a star performer on the more global scene, KQ has now announced the introduction into their fleet later in the year of 3 Embraer 170 regional jets. The airline some years ago expired the ageing A310 fleet to go entirely Boeing. Their jet fleet now includes 4 B777 and 6 B767 aircraft with several new additional orders, including the Dreamliner B 787 pending delivery in coming years. Kenya Airways has now, in the absence of Boeing being able to offer a smaller jet aircraft to supplement their B737 fleet, opted for the Brazilian manufacturer. It will be the first time that Embraer jet aircraft are being introduced into the East African skies and this column will of course break the news when the deliveries are about to take place. LAW SUITS ARE PILING UP OVER MABIRA FOREST Civil society organizations set the ball rolling with lawsuits brought against the government, when it became apparent that some portion of the forest was already given away without a change in use authorized by parliament and some 400 acres were already 'harvested', a nice but misleading phrase to describe the illegal and indiscriminate cutting of the forest. Several of these organizations individually and jointly took government to court, seeking permanent injunctions to prohibit government and any of its bodies to touch Mabira forest. The Kingdom of Buganda has now added its strength and voice by also filing a suit at the Constitutional Court over the ongoing saga. Its offer for land has not met with great favour by either government nor the sugar barons, who had the audacity to hold the nation at ransom and giving Uganda conditions under which they might consider dropping their demand to use the forest for expansion of their sugar estate. A general boycott call against their products, not only SCOUL sugar but also those of other companies under their umbrella, is expected to inflict a painful loss of revenue and erode their profits, which in the face of the Mehta's continued arrogance and intransigence as a corporate entity is now only fair game. Government has also shown little appreciation over the local and global storm of outrage over plans to give a sugar company a quarter, i.e. 7.200 hectares of prime and intact rain forest. Donors have now also added their voices to the controversy and if the intransigence of government persists may well begin to cut development funds. As the global debate on climate change gathers momentum and countries are seeking ways and means to replant forests and add to the global capacity to absorb the dangerous greenhouse gasses, Uganda seems to be oblivious to the fact that cutting forests at this rate will make it an environmental pariah and outcast, while still having all opportunity to become a model of global best practise and cash in on this. The ice caps of the famous Mountains of the Moon (Rwenzori Mountains) have since the middle of last century shrunk already by nearly half while the icecap on Mt. Kilimanjaro is also shrinking at an alarming rate (see previous reports in this column or through topical articles on this problem). This will have a severe impact on the neighbouring communities who depend on the water for agriculture, domestic and industrial purposes and also to support a thriving flower export industry. Much of Mombasa's and the Kenyan coast' water for instance comes from springs fed by waters from Mt. Kilimanjaro and are piped from Tsavo West National Park to Kenya's second city. Already by 2020 is a direct impact expected to force a substantial re-evaluation of life in Eastern Africa and be middle of this century the ongoing climate change can cause catastrophic environmental changes including an increase in malaria and similar tropical diseases and prolonged draughts alternated by massive floodings. The expected affected economic areas and sectors are the cattle industry, coffee, tea, agriculture, horticulture but also the fishing industry, all of which presently contribute major percentages to the regions diverse economies. The German Minister for Environment has last week accused China and the US of 'scientific vandalism' over these countries' attempts to exclude certain statements, conclusions and predictions from the UN Climate Report, which is now being discussed, and global sentiment in fact supports this acid statement. Every country is now called upon to do what is can in it's own context and not deliberately worsening the situation any further. Watch this column as the Mabira debate rages on or send your comments to the leading newspapers in Uganda as follows: www.monitor.co.ug and also www.newvision.co.ug or write to letters@newvision.co.ug and letters@monitor.co.ug, On their web pages you will also find blogs and discussion boards, where you can file your own opinions and contribute to the ongoing discussions and debates. Authorities in Kampala have in the meantime approved a planned peaceful demonstration against the Mabira forest give away and a massive turnout is expected for the event. The arrogant behaviour of the Mehta's has now also resulted in Parliamentary Committees scrutinizing their general business practices and it was in the process discovered that the company has for the past 26 years claimed NOT to make any profits. With government apparently still owning some 51 percent of the shares under a 1980 agreement, the Auditor General has now been instructed by Parliament to conduct an immediate full audit to establish the true financial picture of the company. This development is now thought to have been triggered by the Mehta's top management's total lack of sensitivity to public outcries over their effort to grab a major share of Uganda's prime rain forest, making it arguably a biggest corporat | |||
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WATERS CONTINUE TO RISE