Uganda was recently voted fifth best exhibitor in the African category at this year’s annual International Travel Bourse (ITB) in Berlin, Germany.
What made Uganda’s exhibition stall unique and could have possibly led to the high ranking was a replica of the equator monument displayed next to a mountain gorilla sculpture. Days later, as the Irish community in Uganda celebrated St Patrick’s day, they, for the fourth year running, ─ chose to light the Equator monument green.
At the function held at Kayabwe where the equator crosses the Kampala-Masaka highway, Frank Kirwan, the chargé d’affaires, embassy of Ireland in Uganda said the Equator monument was one of more than 200 landmarks across the world to go green for St Patrick’s day and images of the ‘greened’ Equator would be broadcast across the world, joining the ranks of other globally famous landmarks such as the Empire State Building in New York, Table Mountain in South Africa, the pyramids in Egypt and the Great Wall of China.
Observers say this publicity could be exploited and the Equator made one of those strong selling points to attract tourists into the country.
“In Uganda since we are near the equator, we have a natural air conditioner all year long. We have summer throughout the year and like Winston Churchill once said, anything can grow anywhere in Uganda,” John Ssempebwa, the deputy chief executive officer of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), said.
Julius Agaba, local resident, says that on several occasions, he and friends have stopped at this place to take pictures and continue with their journey, but he does not know the relevance of the Equator.
“I did not study a lot because my parents were poor people; so, all I know is that the Equator is the path of the sun,” Agaba said. He wondered why there is no one at Kayabwe to tell him more about it, a weakness he put on tourism authorities.
This is one of the things state minister for wildlife, Godfrey Ssuubi Kiwanda wants to change. Kiwanda said government is in advanced stages of drafting a plan that will see the development of the place so that people can spend more time there and learn more about Uganda.
“We can have it stretch for about two kilometres having different Ugandan activities and an equator museum whereby in case someone stops say to take pictures, one can spend more hours learning about Uganda and other interesting places the country has to offer,” Kiwanda said.
At the spot, two circular monuments coloured white with inscriptions “Equator” face each other on opposite sides of the road.
A string of activities, especially business, take place here with many selling crafts, artefacts, sculptures of animals, African wear, foods and beverages, among others. The restaurants here are relatively cheap, with most of the food not exceeding Shs 16,000.
However, all handicrafts sold here are obscenely expensive that Ugandans dare not buy them. Vendors here say their merchandise is overpriced because they imported it from Kenya and Tanzania.
“This should stop! We need to see that our people who come from this area make these things themselves so that they can earn from this,” Ssempebwa said.
He tasked the local leadership to ensure that there is local content sold at the Equator.
“All we need is government to come in and help us with capital to start manufacturing these things here like craft shoes,” one vendor said. “That is when we shall also benefit from the tourists but, currently, we get them from Kenya and to ensure we get profit from them, we sell them expensively.”
How can this turn into a tourism hub?
The people The Observer talked to at the Equator urged tourism authorities to front the monument in their advertisements for both local and foreign tourists.
“It is not only wild animals that people want to see. We need this place too to be advertised as a tourist destination; you don’t find it everywhere in the world,” Isaac Katende, a resident said.
Jackie Namirimu sells kitenge clothes at the spot but says her business is not going as expected because people simply stop to take pictures and continue on their journey.
“It is only the whites that come here to buy and they also do that because they are coming to eat in that restaurant. Ugandans don’t even come here. When they do, they simply look through and exclaim at the prices and then go,” she said.
She said a museum will be good for the place given that most people will be forced to spend more time at the facility. For Joseph Musoke, a boda boda cyclist, watching the Equator or walking around the museum is boring.
He hopes there will be other interesting activities in the place; that way it will become famous and people will stay a while longer.
“There are games in Kampala that people play. There is land here. Government or any person can come up here, buy the land and put up a nice hotel and also introduce tourist games,” Musoke said.
While the Kayabwe crossing of the equator has been given priority, the one at Kikorongo on Ishaka-Kasese highway in Kasese is still ignored with the paint on the monuments even wearing off and yet it is located along the route to Queen Elizabeth national park, which is one of the biggest tourist attractions to the country.
Did you know?
The Equator is an imaginary line on the surface of the earth, dividing the Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
It is about 40,075 kilometres (24,901 miles) long, of which 78.7% lies across water and 21.3% over land.
In Uganda it crosses on land and on Lake Victoria. This gives a country a warmer experience and two seasons of dry and wet weather.
Tourists stop at the Equator not just for photographs, but also for simple demonstrations that prove it is indeed the famous crossing.
The Equator crosses 12 other countries: Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, DR Congo, Kenya, Kiribati, Maldives, Somalia, Indonesia, Equador, Colombia and Brazil.
Source: observer.ug
