Great Trek: Government to develop route used by NRA rebels as tourist attraction

Plans are underway for government to develop the route used by the National Resistance Army fighters during the five year bush war as a tourist attraction.

“We want to turn it into a tourism trek that we shall not be waiting for the President to lead trekkers but people do it throughout the year by a big number of people,” the State Minister for Tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda told the Nile Post on Monday.

He said that the Tourism Ministry through Uganda Tourism Board and Uganda Museum are taking over the trek with the sole aim of marketing it as a tourism product to earn money to the country both from within and abroad.

“The trek will have signposts and billboards that will explain the significance of the various places during the liberation struggle.”

“It will ensure tourists from both abroad can come to trek but not necessarily walking on foot but driving and riding with a sole aim of learning about Uganda’s history and the liberation struggle in particular,”Kiwanda added.

The tourism minister revealed that as part of this plan, four museums will be built in Nakaseke, Kiboga and Kakumiro and Kabamba to document the NRA liberation struggle.

He said that locals will earn as guides but also sell merchandise to tourists and provision of accommodation services.

“We want tour operators to sell it to the outside world so we can benefit greatly from it.”

According to Lilly Ajarova, the Uganda Tourism Board Chief Executive Officer, the great trek will be an exciting addition to the country’s tourism products.

“It is a delicate mix of adventure and history that tourists would greatly enjoy. This is in line with our continuing strategy at UTB to diversify our tourism products,” Ajarova told this website.

Underscoring the timing of the trek which had last been done in 1999, Ajarova said it will be a great addition to the country’s tourism products.

“We shall work with the private sector to have this added to the visitor itinerary and enhance the story for tourism consumption and also train guides and operators on how to sell this product,” she noted.

President Museveni on Monday entered a third day of the great trek, code-named “Africa Kwetu” in which he has so far walked for over 80 kilometers.

During the march through the jungles retracing the route followed by his guerrilla forces before they followed power over 30 years ago, Museveni intends to honor National Resistance Army fighters but also educate the young generation on the sacrifice that the rebels went through.