Tour operator arrested after fleecing clients of over shs20m

In efforts to weed out rogue operators from the sector, the Tourism police has arrested a tour operator, Nathan Tindyebwa for fleecing various tourists a total of over $7000 which is equivalent to shs26 million.

Tindyebwa, the director of Humura Trips Company Ltd was arrested by tourism police in Kasubi, Rubaga Division in Kampala after a two week hunt for him.

According to Tourism Police Commander, Frank Mwesigwa, Tindyebwa was arrested on Sunday after being tracked down by covert teams.

It is alleged that the suspect had been contracted by four various tour groups to organize trips to Uganda and that on separate occasions, he was booked to take clients for gorilla tracking and safari to the Murchison Falls but failed to pay both accommodation and transport costs after the visitors had already arrived into the country.

“We have been looking for him after a case was reported to us by one of the tourists from the UK. Using our intelligence we were able to track him down and arrest him. Since then we have received more complaints and leads that further incriminate the suspect,” Mwesigwa said.

He further noted that Tindyebwa is currently detained at Kira Police station where he was charged with obtaining money under false pretence.

According to Mwesigwa, Tourism police is committed to cleaning up the industry of quacks who con tourists.

“Stakeholders are encouraged to report any quacks to police to ensure the long arm of the law catches up with them. We want to ensure sanity in the industry.”

Uganda Tourism Board Quality Assurance Manager, Samora Semakula said they have put in place a joint security committee comprising of Tourism police, the Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities, Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda Tourism Association and are working around the clock to ensure that quality standards in Uganda’s tourism sector are maintained.

“UTB last year kicked off registration and licensing exercise of all tour operators and facilities in the tourism value chain. This process is aimed at effectively regulating the tourism sector and promote quality assurance across the value chain,” Semakula said.

“We thank the tourism police for the timely arrest of the accused. Rogue tour operators are a threat to the growth of our tourism sector. UTB together with the joint security committee will continue to work together to weed out this vice.”