President Yoweri Museveni has renewed his fierce war against environmental degraders, declaring that individuals encroaching on wetlands and natural forests are “enemies of the future” who threaten the core survival of Uganda’s tourism and agricultural wealth.
Speaking as the Chief Guest during the national World Tourism Day celebrations at the Mbale Secondary School Grounds in Mbale City on Sunday, President Museveni warned that the government will no longer tolerate the systematic destruction of critical eco-zones under the guise of subsistence livelihood.
He stressed that opposition to environmental destruction is vital for tourism, and agriculture.
The President emphasized Uganda’s unique climate advantages over Europe and labeled those ignoring the crisis as enemies.
“What they have, we have it here but they don’t have what we have” he said.
Addressing encroachment in Bugisu and Bukedi, Museveni ordered wetland encroachers to vacate to protect critical water towers. He directed that these communities transition to profitable fish farming instead of low-yield wetland cultivation of crops like rice and potatoes.
“The people in the wetland must go to make sure that we maintain the good climate even for agriculture, we need rain we also need water for irrigation but people are drying the water, what sort of people are these. We are going to make sure that all the people in the wetlands shift to fish farming” the president said.
Highlighting tourism as a major economic frontier, Museveni noted that the global tourism industry values around USD 11.6 trillion vastly outperforming sectors like coffee which he said are below the tourism sector.
Citing past protections in Murchison Falls National Park, he urged citizens to focus on commercial agriculture, manufacturing, ICT, and tourism which he said is 22 times bigger than coffee in terms of revenue generation.
“Let our people wakeup and this time we are going to be very firm this time, if we want to protect our tourism potential, we need to protect our mild climate” he said.
Museveni said he almost runs mad when he watches TV and the news is that southern Uganda has temperatures as high as 30 degrees celicious.
The event featured the commissioning of the Mbale Wildlife Conservation Education Centre along the Tororo highway, established by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to house various wildlife species.
Museveni praised the initiative and pledged improved road connectivity to scenic areas like Bududa and Manjiya. These efforts align with the event’s theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” aimed at boosting visitor numbers through modern technology.
Tourism Minister Col. (Rtd) Tom Butime further emphasized combining technology with conservation for Uganda’s global travel promotion.
Naminya Sale, the proprietor of Casa Safaris who represented the tour operators asked the president to prioritize working on connectivity roads to tourism destinations in the region. He cited among others the Bududa circular road which would easy lead to Mount Elgon National Park.
By Kirinya Ayub