During the 2016 Parliamentary elections in Uganda, Hon Alex Ruhunda the Fort Portal Municipality Member of Parliament in his manifesto promised to lobby for a Fort Portal to become a tourism city and it has come to pass after the government in May 2019 earmarked Fort Portal tourism city among others to be commissioned next financial year 2019/2019 that will begin this July 2019. Hon Alex said as we welcome the city, citizens need to be prepared on how they will benefit. The Fort Portal Member of Parliament said these when he was hosted on ToroDev’s supported weekly radio talkshow ‘Listeners forum’ that is aired live every Sunday 8:00-10:00 pm on Jubilee radio on 2nd June 2019.
Hon Alex Ruhunda, Member of Parliament, Fort Portal Municipality
Hon Alex further said, a city will come with bigger budgets to improve service delivery sectors including roads, water, electricity, etc. the question is how are our people prepared to benefit from the city status?. ‘’We need to sensitize our people on hospitality sectors in order to attract income from the tourists, improve on the museum for cultural sites and other sectors such that people are able to give history as well as doing business from the sector’’, said Hon Alex Ruhunda.
There is already a master plan for the Rwenzori region and what we need is a clear and proper physical plan for the city including it’s road map. These can only be achieved if the incumbent leaders and those to come are ready to implement the master plan as well as focus on issues of security, entertainment and other services to provide the hospitality needed by our tourists. He further said, Fort Portal Municipality is one of the Municipalities in Uganda benefiting from the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Program (USMID) funds that is supported by World bank and in the next 5 years beginning 2019/2020 financial year, we expect about 25 billion shillings to improve on the road network within the Municipality and this will boost tourism as well as improve service delivery. Also, there is a macro master plan for the tourism city that focuses on construction of 2 airstrips in the region, water transport on lake Albert and build road networks that connects district to district, all these will be achieved given availability of capable and dedicated leaders. People need to understand that development and upgrading to a city status will not come at once hence we need to mobilize our people as leaders to start emphasizing on hygiene at home and in towns but also how to manage cabbage within the city in order to avoid hygiene related diseases. Media has a big role to play in sensitizing our people on security and other development services in the region in order to attract tourists. Our natives who are outside this district need to be mobilized to come back and invest at home for the development of their mother land Tooro.
Some tourism attractions
During the 2 hours live discussion, listeners’ were given time to participate through call inns and Sms, about 40 listeners called inn and below is some extracts from their comments;
‘’Kagote-Saaka road is in a sorry state, what is the member of parliament commenting on that?’’, Asked Kusemererwa Peter a caller from Katoojo in West Division, Fort Portal Municipality. ‘’Hon Alex promised a Television in 2016 during his campaigns, how far with this development?’’, Asked Wilson Guma, a caller from Kagote in Fort Portal Municipality. ‘’The minimum wage is still a challenge in Uganda and we are earning very little money given the inflation in the country. Education and health sectors are most affected when it comes to minimum wage issues, can the Member of Parliament lobby for increased wage for workers so as to support citizens improve their income levels?’’, said Beatrice Kabagenyi, a caller from Kitumba in Fort Portal Municipality.
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