A probe team, instituted by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry, is currently on an upcountry tour of the national parks to gather information they hope to use to determine whether to uphold Mapesa’s suspension or not. The probe team embarked on its tour after the High Court issued an injunction against Mapesa’s suspension. But even before the team gather its findings, some players in the industry have issued a vote of no confidence in Mapesa, and want him to be shown the exit.

One Herbert Byaruhanga, the Executive Director of Bird Uganda Safaris Ltd, accuses UWA, under Mapesa’s watch, of incompetence said, “They didn’t know operators who are not registered with AUTO [Association of Uganda Tour Operators) yet there are many associations in Uganda. They give $10 per gorilla permit to AUTO as if it is the only one doing the marketing.”
He added: “There is something lacking, generally. They make decisions without consulting with the stakeholders yet we market their products. It is like they don’t appreciate what we do.”

Another player, cautious not to divulge a lot and antagonize his friends at UWA, said Mapesa’s suspension does not come as a surprise. “This is a tip of something that has been boiling. It just exploded but it is a shame that as Ugandans, we can’t manage our own heritage,” said Livingstone Kalema, the managing director of Livingstone African Safaris.

Other players speaking on condition of anonymity pointed out that the institution had become arrogant. “There was a bit of creating small kings within the whole thing. UWA operates like a small kingdom and he [Mapesa] talked with a lot of power,” said an industry player, who is also a member of the probe committee.
In indicting Mapesa’s name in the alleged mess at UWA, the stakeholders have ruptured the image of a man who embodied all that is ambition, but then opened up a whole new series of questions about someone who grew from the lowest ranks to become the boss of what, until recently, had become one of the few well-run government institutions.

Mapesa, a tough-talking official, is a veteran of Uganda’s tourism industry. He is said to have started at UWA as a research student while undertaking his postgraduate studies. He then moved between a couple of national parks as warden.
Mapesa’s biggest break came in 2005, when he was appointed the executive director of UWA. This was a time when the tourism industry’s image was recovering from a tainted past after some Rwanda rebels allegedly murdered American tourists in Bwindi Impenetrable National park.
The numbers – in terms of revenue and tourists – were looking good. Indeed, Mapesa played his part in growing the numbers. Under his watch, through his strategy in regaining the confidence that the industry had lost, UWA recorded more revenues, with the gorillas and chimpanzees attracting at least 20,000 visitors per year.
According to available statistics by UWA, the number of Ugandans visiting parks went up from 24,381 in 2007 to 25,605 in 2008 and 29,884 in 2009.
In 2008, Uganda earned more than $630m from tourism alone which was second to remittances by Ugandans in the Diaspora, and surpassed the once mighty sectors such as coffee, tea, fish, cotton and flowers combined.

With Mapesa’s other initiatives such as the popular Friend a Gorilla campaign, Uganda had returned on the map of the most sought-after tourist destinations.
But like other government bodies in a similar financial state, UWA was gradually becoming a sort of poisonous chalice for those managing it. As part of his role, Mapesa faced a delicate balancing act; keeping at bay huge corporate companies seeking a piece of the protected areas for their business expansions, appeasing the interests of prying environmentalists, and making sure that tourist operators were confident that transparency reigned supreme in the way matters were being handled.
It was, therefore, not long before controversies broke out. Mapesa has been accused of favouritism in awarding concessions. For example, tour operators contest UWA’s decision to award all gorilla permits for Nkuringo gorilla family to Nkuringo Cultural Development Foundation (NCDF), which entered another agreement with The Uganda Safari Company (TUSC) to market the gorilla permits and manage Nkuringo Eco-Lodge.

Others question the criteria used for the same Uganda Safari Company to acquire concessions at UWA managed estates of Kidepo Valley National Park and Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.
With these concessions, tour operators feel locked out of a lucrative business venture. Frustrated, some have moved on to a more open industry like Rwanda’s, a fierce competitor for Uganda.
Yet, in accusing Mapesa for all the wrongdoing, industry players hardly question Dr. Oumar Muballe, the board chairman, who sparked off the shakeup at UWA under suspicious circumstances four months into his new job.

John Nagenda, a former chairman of UWA, and also a senior Presidential Advisor, did not have any kind words for Muballe in his recent weekly column, One Man’s Week. He wrote “When the new Chairman, after only a couple of months, sits on his hind paws (we are talking wildlife) and says of Moses Mapesa, the dedicated Executive Director for the last seven years, that he is incompetent (a sick joke), he should show cause.” He added: “He has made allegation after allegation, including impropriety, against Mapesa and his team... his breakneck speed (why?) and the rate at which he pops up with announcements, some contradicting each other, border on hysteria. Who is the monkey driving this man?”

A member of the probe team investigating Mapesa feels UWA is caught between a rock and a hard place. “We must be very careful because there are challenges on both sides. There are challenges regarding management of UWA but also there could be challenges on the side of the new board,” he said, declining to be quoted.
For the tourism industry, however, dealing with Mapesa remains their first hurdle.

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Uganda Tourism news

For many years the supposed showcase for Uganda’s tourism industry was located on the lowest floor of the Impala House on Kimathi Avenue in the city center. The offices were often overlooked, and even when they were found, they gave a rather not too inviting impression to their visitors.

UTB also operates two "window shops" at the Entebbe International Airport’s arrival lounge and the Garden City shopping mall, making contact for arriving tourist visitors easy and simple.

The new premises are now fully operational and open for business – aimed to bring more tourists and commercial visitors to the "Pearl of Africa."

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Ms Kertland told the probe committee instituted by the Minister of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, last week that Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Nkuringo community in Kisoro District, among others, entered a deal that allowed Uganda Safari - a company she runs with her husband - to have rights over the six sites that other tour operators say is the heartland of most gorillas in western Uganda.

“We are not monopolizing anything. We have an agreement signed between UWA and the community and that is what has enticed us to invest otherwise it would have been foolish to invest without guarantee,” Ms Kertland said.

She told the committee that the accusation of monopoly should not arise because there are now more 16 operational gorilla sites, adding that their massive investment is no ordinary feat, considering that they are in areas that lack even basic necessities like power and water.

Ms Kertland, in a separate interview said she will seek legal redress if the six permits are taken away from them and subjected to competition, arguing that they got the permits in a legal and transparent process. Uganda Safari will have priority over the six sites for 15 years. Ms Kertland said in the last two years, the affected communities have been given $60,000 as part of her company’s contribution to them.

He added health centers are being erected and more money is being channeled back to the community more than ever before. After months of investigations, following complaints by some local tour operators, acting Inspector General of Government Raphael Baku on April 28, wrote to State Minister for Tourism Serapio Rukundo ordering the cancellation of the lucrative gorilla-tracking deal on the fringes of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Mr Baku, in the report addressed to Mr Rukundo, said Mr James Bakeine, a tour operator, complained to his office of “discrimination, irregularities and illegalities” in the management and issuance of gorilla-tracking permits by UWA to just a few companies, resulting in monopoly. In addition to the monopoly that the IGG documented in his report, he also directed that the Nkuringo Foundation be wound up because it does not serve the interests of the Nkuringo community. Mr Baku, in an April 28 report, said UWA, by granting The Uganda Safari Company (TUSC) exclusive rights to issue permits to tourists, deprives Kisoro District residents’ opportunities and revenue. Three top UWA managers, led by acting Executive Director Eunice Duli, in an interview with this newspaper on Tuesday, said the Ombudsman’s report lacks merit and is “inaccurate and misleading.”

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Mr Bonifance Byamukama the chairman Tour Operators Association said the exercise will be carried out depending on the products available in the parks and under this arrangement parks will be given different stars depending on product availability.

The 10 national parks in Uganda are already graded with Murchison Falls, Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori and Bwindi Impenetrable national parks belonging to grade A because of the variety of products they offer.

However this time the grading will be done at a regional level. Kenya has about 10 national parks, Burundi has about three, and Tanzania has over 15 parks.

This comes after the five countries in East Africa agreed to issue a single tourist visa for travel throughout the region and are discussing a protocol to create and market the region as a single tourist destination.

The visa will allow tourists to move freely among the member countries of the East African Community.

The discussions include setting a common code of conduct for tour operators, establishing professional standards for travel agents, creating standardized hotel classifications and adopting common policies on wildlife management.

A collective policy for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wildlife and other tourist sites in the region is also in the pipeline.

The introduction of the visa has, however, delayed. "In November we shall be going to the World Travel Market in the UK but each country has its own stall and will be marketing separately. There is need for one body to market the region because the countries have different products," said Byamukama.

“Uganda still faces a challenge in marketing her tourist attractions. Some of the roads like that leading to Bwindi Impenetrable and Queen Elizabeth national parks are impassible among others," noted Byamukama.

He said the tour operators are still facing a problem in accessing the new markets. "We cannot depend only on the traditional markets of the US and the UK. There are new markets emerging such as China and Asia which we need to tap in with the help of the government.

Byamukama added that tour operators face many challenges in marketing which they cannot address. "The tradition worldwide is that the government takes the initiative to penetrate markets by buying stalls and the service providers get onboard to showcase what they can offer," he argued.

Byamukama said matters have not been helped with the under funding of Uganda Tourism Board which would be doing the marketing.

He also said they are facing challenges in accessing financing since most banks do not look at tourism as a viable business.

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Eunice Mahoro, the director of tourism development, Joseph Tibaijuka, the acting executive director, and Olive Kyampaire, the partnership coordinator. This brings to five the number of UWA officials on suspension.

Moses Mapesa, the executive director, and Sam Mwandha, the director for conservation, were sent on forced leave earlier this week. Two others resigned last month.

Asked why he was sending Tibaijuka away days after naming him acting executive director, Dr. Boysier Ouma Muballe, the UWA chairperson, said: "Tibaijuka is the director of finance and it was not appropriate for him to be there acting as the executive director." "We had to send him away until investigations are over in the next three to four weeks. This could be followed by a commission of inquiry. The audit report will guide us on what steps to take," Muballe added.

He named Mark Kamanzi as the new acting executive director. Muballe vowed that no stone would be left unturned until what he described as chaos at UWA is sorted out.

He said he had camped at Uganda Wildlife Authority for the last two months to ensure that the organisation is run efficiently. Muballe noted that UWA had been hit by irregular creation of departments and mismanagement of funds, among other problems.

However, sources within UWA said confusion and tension had crept into the authority as staff at the headquarters fear that they might also be affected. The sources added that Muballe's intervention had created more problems than it was intended to solve. UWA was set up by the wildlife Act in 1996 and manages 10 national parks, 12 wildlife reserves and 14 wildlife sanctuaries, covering 10% of the country.

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Ann Karungi, a Uganda Export Promotions Board official, told Ugandan journalists on a tour of China that she could not tell the number of people they have received since they started, but it is in millions and she was happy the gorilla campaign is doing very well.

The young and the old, all queue in hundreds daily to take photographs with the imposing effigy of the mountain gorilla, one of the most sought out animal by tourists.

The World Expo, which started on May 1, 2010 is one of the biggest global events held every four years. It is aimed at promoting the exchange of ideas and development of the world economy, culture, science and technology as well as improving international relations.

About 200 nations and 57 international bodies are taking part in the expo expected to attract 70 million visitors.

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Decades of conflict in the region, along with poaching and human encroachment on their habitat have threatened their survival.

But money from 'gorilla tourism' has helped Rwanda reverse the trend of the shrinking population, with a small increase in mountain gorillas over the past five years.

The money is funding work to protect their forest habitat and anti-poaching patrols.

"We need the visitors because it is their money that helps to save the gorillas," said gorilla guide Kwizera Diogene.

One of the many women employed to make souvenirs for gorilla tourists

Rwanda is successfully conducting a delicate balancing act - restricting the number of visitors to ensure the gorillas are not disturbed but letting enough in to fund their protection.

Each group of gorillas is visited for just one hour a day by a maximum of eight tourists. Trips cost £300.

The gorillas are very curious and don't seem to mind visitors

“Deep in the forest we found a group of 20 silverbacks, with one huge male lounging on his side with a young gorilla clambering over him. He glanced at us, grunted, and then went back to munching a piece of tree bark.” Said Emma Hurd.

Coming face to face with the gorillas is a remarkable experience.

In their eyes you sense some kind of recognition, and some of the young males were so curious they wandered over to get a close look at us, brushing past our legs, Sky's Emma Hurd added.

"It was amazing to get so close," said American tourist Carol Hart. "It cost a lot of money but it was worth it."

Gorilla tourism is worth £3m a year to Rwanda and has created thousands of jobs.

Even former poachers like Anastase Gasaga now recognise the animals are worth more alive than dead.

"I make money helping the foreigners see the gorillas, so I don't need to poach anymore,"

He said.

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Formerly located in the basement of Impala House on Kimathi Avenue, UTB has moved to its new offices located at Windsor Crescent, in Kampala's posh Kololo suburb.

Located in about an acre of land, the plush spacious office is being seen as a step ahead by UTB to take the staggering but potential sector that has kept lagging behind her East African Counterparts.

The Uganda Tourism Board's Executive Director, Mr Cuthbert Baguma, told East African Business Week last week that the spacious offices are ideal and convenient for Tourism.

Baguma, who is only just four months in office, said the former office at Kimathi Avenue was inadequate for marketing.

“Fundamentally, you can't talk about marketing and promotion without image, and one of the key ingredients of image is location in terms of accessibility, proximity and convenience,” Baguma said.

"The previous office space we were occupying at Impala was grossly inadequate for the creation of a prime marketing agency like UTB as the tourism marketing arm of Uganda."

Apart from its offices at Garden City, Baguma said UTB plans to open another office in a prime location in the central business district to ease accessibility and convenience for improved customer care and service delivery.

In 1907 Uganda was visited by Winston Churchill. His discriminating and perceptive analysis of what Uganda has to offer was recorded in "My African Journey", where he wrote "Uganda is truly the pearl of Africa".

Blessed with unique attractions, beauty, its well-earned reputation for hospitality, modesty and friendliness, Uganda seems to be slowly losing its tourism grounds. With the trials of independence and civil war now long past, Uganda has once again opened its doors to tourists.

Over the past three years, Uganda's Ministry of Tourism, through its associated agencies the Uganda Tourism Board and the Uganda Wildlife Authority are sowing the seeds of a brand new conservation-based form of sustainable tourism.

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Other members on the committee include Mr Amos Wekesa, the chairman Uganda Tourism Association, Dr John Bosco Nizeye from Makerere University and Mr Denis Bireije. Col. Kwiringira is a former director of operations at the Internal Security Organisation.

The Uganda Wild life Authority, (UWA) executive director Moses Wafula Mapesa and Sam Mwandha, the director of conservation, are currently on forced leave.

Mr Joseph Tibeijuka, the director for finance, has been appointed acting executive director.

The team, according to a source, will investigate alleged mismanagement of money from gorilla permits and Zziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Nakasongola District.

Gen. Otafiire said yesterday that the officials will have an opportunity to clear themselves on the allegations contained in the IGG’s report.

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Uganda tourism news

Twenty years ago, the Uganda Government gave exclusive rights to a few hoteliers to build accommodation facilities in the country's three major national parks.

While the rights were aimed at boosting a dormant sector then, the move constrained the growth of the sector as visits to the parks have been constrained by limited accommodation there.

But the lifting of the exclusive rights is boosting the sector as investors take on ventures in the wildlife conservation areas.

The government had given the early proprietors a 25-kilometre exclusive zone for 30 years. That meant no other investor was allowed to erect a similar facility within a radius of 25 kilometres.

The stakeholders in the industry have welcomed Government's decision saying it is working to boost to the sector.

Mr Ben Rwabutara, the Managing Director Palace Motel Ltd in Uganda's Western town of Fort Portal says while security in the once insecure parks and mountainous area is good, inadequate accommodation remains a big challenge.

“Exclusive zones around the parks had affected the tourist arrivals since no investor was allowed to set up any infrastructure within a radius of 25 km”.He added

Rwabutura is currently setting up 20 self contained cottages on the periphery of Katwe Town council bordering Queen Elizabeth National Game Park. The cottages are like those in Kidepo National Game Park. Rwabutara are urging Government to aid the tourism sector if it is to be more competitive.

"Lack of Government input in helping people who are interested in developing the industry is a big problem.

Rwabutara said the government should help in identifying investors who are interested in constructing lodges.

Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth Park has a capacity of about 50 rooms and it is fully booked year-round.

State Minister for Tourism Serapio Rukundo, says the Ministry in conjunction with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) have identified areas suitable to tourism investors.

"The exclusive rights given to Madhvani are no longer there.” We discussed with Madhvani about the proposed sites for development," Mr Rukundo said.

Queen Elizabeth Park in western Uganda covers 2,000 square miles, Murchison Falls, which lies in Gulu and Masindi, covers 3,840 square kilometres, while Kidepo in Karamoja is 1442 square kilometres wide. The Madhvani Group is the biggest concessionaire with a hotel in Queen Elizabeth National Park and two in Murchison Falls, among others.

Despite having unique tourist attractions, Uganda's tourism sector remains the poorest in the East African region.

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