Tony Ofungi

The destruction of Kasubi tombs an international World Heritage site left many sharing the grief of our lost heritage, Baganda, Bakiga, Teso, Acholi.

From the tourism industry, it was a similar story. Fresh from marketing (B)uganda at international tourism fairs, through press trips and promotions, tour operators who had packaged Kasubi on the Kampala City tour circuit grappling over how to repackage the city tour without Kasubi Tombs.

It is not the first time for such wanton destruction to befall mankind. The Second World War was the latest of wars that left many a city in Europe reduced to rubble.

Castles in baroque and gothic architecture have since been restored from London, Naples, Berlin to Vienna but now attracting bus loads of coach tours from all over the world. Europe learnt their lesson and rose out of the rubble.

Similarly, the Baganda kings worked hard to set this legacy. It therefore remains the responsibility of the care takers to learn from this tragedy.

Not to glee or policitise the tragedy, the reality is that hitherto, just because of an accident of birth, all earnings from entrance fees, sale of souvenirs were simply stashed by afew caretakers without regard to maintenance of even the other Buganda Heritage sites like Wamala Tombs, Bagalayaze ,Budo Katereke , Sezibwa Falls remain derelict.

Heritage trails and Uganda Community Tourism Association that were instrumental in developing of Kabaka’s Trail to allow visits to Bugandas forgotten history, dance & culture had made an effort to restore these sites only to be sneered upon by the 'Nnalinya' of Kasubi.

Remember after Princess Diana's death, Buckingham Palace had to make a lot of Public Relations concessions to the public.

Regardless, Kasubi Tombs World Heritage site MUST be rebuilt to its former glory, with the UNESCO experts restoring or remodeling replicas of what was destroyed. The night of 16th would just be another chapter in the history of Buganda.

Not forgetting that this time strict rules regarding safety and security should be applied and this time technical assistance must be embraced. Sprinkler systems, No flamabbles, fire proofing for the grass, surveillance and alarm systems.

Meanwhile, the tour operators should maintain Kasubi on the city tour this time round , with contributions going direct to restoration and naturally maintenance of the Nnalinya and the Royal Household.



Mr. Ofungi is the Senior

Tourist Information Officer

UGANDA TOURISM BOARD KAMPALA, UGANDA