NATIONAL: Tourism minister Col. (Rtd) Tom Butime has pledged to work closely with Tororo local government to help boost tourism in Bukedi sub-region.
Minister Butime was speaking during celebrations to mark to World Wildlife Day at King George Grounds in Tororo district on Friday.
“I have already directed the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) to start promoting conservation tourism in the entire Bukedi sub-region,” Minister Butime said.
He commended the people from Bukedi sub-region for turning up in large numbers to grace the event that is annually marked on March 3rd.
“I commend you for turning up in large numbers. I want in a special way to thank the Emorimor of Teso, Paul Emorot Sande, for attending this event. A whole Emorimor coming is important for me. It creates awareness,” Minister Butime said.
Speaking at the same event, the executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Sam Mwandha, echoed the need for greater partnership to help safeguard the environment.
“This years theme is Partnership for Wildlife Conservation and I would like to thank all stakeholders for making this year’s event a success,” Mwandha said.
He enumerated the different activities that were held prior to the main event, including a conservation conference, Crane festival, secondary school conservation quiz competitions and Tertiary Conservation Quiz competitions hosted by the Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (UHTTI).
In a related development, Tororo district chairperson John Okeya requested government to declare Tororo rock as one of the tourist destinations in the country.
“We appeal to government to provide a motorized lift to make it easy for tourists to access the site and upgrade Tororo hospital to a regional referral hospital,” Okeya said.
The MP for Tororo Municipality Apollo Yeri Ofwono in his address thanked the event organizers for choosing Tororo.
“Thank you for choosing Tororo to host you and the gates are wide open you can always come again,” Yeri said.
Speaking to our reporter on the sidelines of the event, the UHTTI deputy principal, Moses Kaneene, urged Ugandans to embrace skills education as a way of fighting unemployment and poverty in the country.
“I appeal to Ugandans, especially the young people, to come to UHTTI for skills training and UHTTI is the place to be,” Kaneene said.
UHTTI is mandated by an Act of Parliament to train manpower for the tourism and hospitality sector.
The event featured exhibitions from different stakeholders as well as tourism institutions across the country who showcased a horde of products and services. Winners of the quiz competitions were also awarded during the event.
