Business booms at Mutima beach almost a year after boat tragedy
After a 25 minute ride (using a speedboat) from Speke Resort Munyonyo, together with a group of four other colleagues, we dock at Mutima beach, in Mpatta Sub County in Mukono District.
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This is the shortest route to the beach or else one has to use the winding road which is over 50 kilometres off Kampala.
Before reaching the wreckage of the ill-fated MV Templar vote welcomes you in a distance of over 50 metres to Mutima beach, having
On the fateful day on November 24, 2018 MV Templar, a boat full of over 100 revellers from KK beach in Ggaba and destined for merrymaking at K Palm beach in Mukono capsized near Mutima beach.
Over 30 people died in the debacle that saw many others rescued.
On a calm Wednesday afternoon, together with my crew, we arrive at Mutima beach whose only claim to fame came after the MV Templar debacle because it is where most of the dead bodies were first put before being taken away to the mortuary.
Mutima beach where bodies were first put before they were taken to the mortuary
The beach was also home to a beehive of activities as the marine police and army tried to rescue some of the revellers aboard the ill-fated boat.
One cannot help having their mind relaxed by the cool sea breeze and the well-kempt compound at the beach which was once a forbidden place for many people who had the memories of the grim Saturday on the back of their minds.
The Mutima beach manager is supervising ongoing works to renovate the facility overlooking a notice to revellers against swimming the water.
“All people using the lake do so at their own risk,” reads in part the notice.
On the nearby shores, a group of over 10 children are seen bathing in the lake as others swim in the fresh waters of the Victoria.
“In the first, people feared coming here because of the bad memories they had after that boat capsized and many people died,” Christopher Ampeire tells me.
Motionless: The Ill-fated MV Templar
He is however quick to jump to a conclusion that people have gotten over the debacle and business has resumed again.
“The incident affected us but people got over it and business is back to normal. We now receive many people coming here to enjoy our facilities but also have a tour of the MV Templar boat.”
Ampeire adds that because their facility has football, volleyball and netball courts, many groups of people come to play those games from Mutima beach.
“People got to know that the boat was not coming here. They now come to enjoy sports activities and also do other business here,” the Mutima beach manager says as he points to tents erected in the compound for guests.
As I walk around the facility, I realize there are so many renovation works going on and in the well-furnished bar, the replay of the UEFA Champions League encounter between Ajax FC and French club Lille is showing on one of the giant screens.
The manager insists they want to make the facility the place of choice for revellers.
MV Templar
My day ends with a visit to the wreckage of the ill-fated MV Templar boat.
The wreckage was abandoned on the lake shores and closer look inside only brings back the memories of a ghost city that Mogadishu was before the Al Shabaab insurgents were flushed out by AMISOM troops led by the UPDF in 2011.
Part of the wreckage of MV Templar
A closer look at the deserted boat, it is reminiscent of the fun that was on the ill-fated vessel.
Broken bottles of beer and opened packets of condoms are some of the things the eyes can’t go without staring at.
What remains of the captain’s cockpit is a deserted place occupied by cobwebs.
The MV Templar boat that many revellers in Kampala enjoyed has only remained a shell of itself.
