“These were extreme risk-takers. I used to take people there under such circumstances, but we always had to make sure we were in a convoy. We had security with us. We could gather in Kotido and have 20 cars following each other. It was a very volatile environment at that time.”
In the past five years, the people of Karamoja have been largely disarmed. The Lord’s Resistance Army has moved to neighboring countries. And now Kidepo is getting some major financing.
Stephen Masaba of the Uganda Wildlife Authority examines plans for improvements to Kidepo National Park.(Hilary Heuler for VOA)
Stephen Masaba is with of the Uganda Wildlife Authority. He says the government plans to spend millions of dollars for marketing on Kidepo. He says local transportation will also be improved.
“Security has tremendously improved, and that’s why we’re able to do a lot of these things. We are getting out of the long historical bad days, and we are slowly but surely getting there - putting in place systems that give you access, putting in place gate systems, putting in place systems that can enable you to enjoy. We hope this will turn around the fortunes of Kidepo.”
Mr. Wekesa says this represents a change on the part of the government. Until now, he says, it cared more about agricultural development than tourism development.
“They realize that we are earning a lot of money, and we have a treasure. This is one of the greatest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity. But we have not been able to tap into it, and they realize we should tap into it.”
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25