Poor roads hindering growth of tourism sector in Elgon districts
MBALE-The poor road network in the Elgon region in eastern Uganda will continue to hinder the growth of the tourism industry if nothing is done to make the tourist sites there accessible.
The tourists and tour companies said government is slow to build good roads in the mountainous region that borders Kenya. The region comprises districts of Mbale, Manafwa, Bududa, Sironko, Kapchorwa, Bukwo, Kween, Namisindwa, and Bulambuli.
According to them, the roads that lead to some of the tourism sites in the region are in a very poor state, something they said affects tourism.
Some of the affected roads are the Mbale-Bufumbo road, which tourists use to access Wanale ridge, Wanale –Nkokonjeru terrace, Nalugugu-Mutufu-Budadiri road that connects to Mt.Elgon National Park, Bubulo-Bududa Circular road, Kapchorwa-Suam road among others.
Some of the tourist sites and attractions include Mt.Elgon National Park, Sipi Falls, Bullfighting, culture tour, Wanale Ridge, coffee tours, Piane-upe, Semei Kakungulu, and Bamasaba cultural site for Imbalu [circumcision] rituals.
Saleh Namenya, the Chief Executive Officer of Casa Uganda Safaris and lodges, said the government should improve infrastructures like roads and other facilities in order to attract tourism to the region.
“We need to have good roads and other facilities like hotels to be able to promote tourism and attract revenue in the region. The roads are poor and yet it contributes to the growth of an area,” Namenya said.
According to Namenya, the region needs more people to invest in tourism.
Steven Masiga, a researcher, said bad roads have greatly affected the tourism sector in the region.
“If roads are good tourists visit the area but because our roads are bad tourism has not picked up. We are missing a lot of money in the region,” Masiga said.
The Chief Investment Officer, Kakungulu Safaris Lodge, Racheal Kakungulu, said some of the places in the region are not accessible.
Recently, the Minister of Water and Environment, Sam Cheptoris, said the government has started improving infrastructures such as roads in order to attract tourists.
‘Government is injecting a lot of money in the tourism sector to make sure we attract tourists in our country,” Cheptoris said.
Judith Chekwel, a tour guide, urged the government to save the situation by injecting more funds into road maintenance.
“We have good facilities which can attract tourists but we need to improve. To attract tourists, there is a need for collective efforts to improve the tourism sector in the region,” Chekwel said.
She said investors in the sector were incurring huge losses.
David Kutosi, a resident of Wanale Sub-county, wonders why government has failed to improve the road network and yet tour companies pay taxes.
“These bad roads hampered the transportation of goods and tourists spent long hours on the roads,” Kutosi said.
Denis Mukungu, a tour guide, said poor roads have made it difficult for tour Operators or Agents to sell packages to specific destinations like Kidepo and Pain-Upe.
“One is most likely to spend an entire day on the road. Tourists want to spend time at the sites and not on the road. This, therefore, makes visitor numbers decline which impacts negatively on the social and economic development of such places,” Mukungu said.
He said having good roads makes it easier for investors to set up Lodges, restaurants, Petrol stations, entertainment centres, and stop-over centres due to accessibility in the protected areas.
“But bad state of roads offers us an opportunity to build an industry around water tourism. Lake Victoria and River Nile are still underdeveloped yet it could fetch the government enough revenue to fix some of the roads,” he said.
The Mt Elgon Elgon Conservation manager, Fredrick Kiiza, said the region has some challenges that need to be addressed to improve tourism.
He said some of the roads leading to the national parks are in poor condition.
He, however, said there are limited facilities in the park like lodges.
“We need to invest more in constructing facilities as one of the ways to improve tourism. It will help to market the tourism in the region,” he said.
Mount Elgon National Park lies on the border of Uganda and Kenya in the Eastern region of Uganda. Mt National Elgon Park consists of a towering volcanic mountain crowned with a vast caldera as well as other streams, and valleys.
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