- PRESIDENT ALSO ASKED CITIES TO DEVELOP LEISURE AND SPORTS FACILITIES HOUSING MUSEUMS TO ATTRACT TOURISTS
President Museveni has implored new cities across the country to develop leisure and sports facilities that accommodate infrastructural developments of museums.
He says this would to enable tourists to explore the country in addition to equally helping in showcasing the cultures of this nation. He named the cities as Lira, Gulu, Soroti, Arua and Fort Portal among others.
“Museums in this country should be centers of showcasing our beautiful environment, memory, diversity, inclusivity and socioeconomic transformation. This is why our national theme is; Museums, Our Heritage” The president said in a speech read for him by vice president Maj. Jessica Alupo who officiated at the closure of celebrations to mark the International Museum Day 2023 held at Kaunda grounds-Gulu City. The theme of this year is ‘Museums, Sustainability and Wellbeing’
Museveni said that museums are key contributors to the well-being and to sustainable development of communities.
“As trusted institutions and important threads in our shared social fabric, they are uniquely placed to create a cascading effect to foster positive change” the president said, adding that this year’s theme resonates well with the global framework of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. He added that the Uganda Vision 2040 is also anchored on this as it seeks to accelerate the socio-economic transformation of society by providing household incomes to the population, youth employment, wealth creation and industrialization for inclusive growth.
The president noted that Uganda stands alone as a beautiful country endowed with diverse natural and cultural heritage citing northern Uganda, where he said there are several tourism sites like Fort Patiko, Murchison Falls National Park, Aruu Falls, Lututuru hills, and Kabalega-Mwanga sites.
Museveni said these have rich ancient historical and archaeological information to be packaged for tourism development.
He said government has now prioritized the development of supportive infrastructure to catalyze investments and the development of these sites.
The president said that by rolling out the Parish Development Model across the country, the NRM is extending wealth creation programme country-wide, and maximizing prosperity everywhere, that will truly lead to broad-based peace among people and the nation.
“I am reliably informed that through sustainable conservation of Nature and Cultural Heritage, communities through PDM can benefit from the creation of one village, one product model, based on iconic heritage sites within our villages/parishes. For instance, I encourage the local communities to come up with handcrafts unique to their clans or totems that can be sold at these heritage touristic sites” he said and also encouraged the Private Sector players to invest in the development of the untapped tourism resources in northern Uganda, especially Fort Patiko and other historical sites such as Wodelai, Dufile, Lututulu, Palabek, Rock Art sites in Eastern Uganda among others.
He also urged the private sector players to put educational recreation services in all museums located in the entire region, noting that this way; the country shall be made attractive not only to international tourists but also to domestic tourists.
The president through Alupo who is also Katakwi woman MP, said the improvement of connectivity through the development of tourism roads, the revival of the national carrier, Uganda Airlines the conservation of Uganda’s heritage as well as the promotion and showcasing of the potential of museums will diversify the country’s tourism offering, thus accelerating the national socio-economic growth.
“The development of museums is a firm foundation for the dissemination of skills, knowledge, and information inherited from our great-grandparents in the advancement of civilization and technological innovation such as herbal medicine, architecture, and creative and performing arts which were used to solve societal problems, promote cultural tourism and empowerment of citizens to live in harmony” Museveni said.
