By Ronald Nahabwe
Minister for tourism and antiquities Ephraim Kamuntu has revealed that Government will not give away Murchison Falls to an investor for the construction of a 360 megawatts hydro power dam.
Kamuntu said this decision was recently reached by cabinet at a presser held Monday during which he assured the nation that the government of Uganda will not give away Murchison falls for the construction of 360 megawatts hydro power dam to South African investors Bonang Power Limited.
This stems from a letter dated June 20th to the Ministry through National Environment Management Authority- NEMA from Electricity Regulatory Authority-ERA on an application for a feasibility study for a proposed power dam near the Murchison Falls by a South African Company, Bonang Power Limited.
According to ERA, the company plans to build new hydro-power dams at Ayago, Uhuru, Kiba and Murchison Falls to generate 2,550 MW of electricity.
Minister revealed this at the Uganda Media Center where he said, “The cabinet seating made a decision that the proposed hydro-power dam could be constructed in another place without affecting the tourism site which fetches a fortune for the economy.”
Murchison Falls is one of River Nile’s remaining spectacular waterfalls which tops the “bucket list” of iconic sceneries in Uganda that hundreds of thousands of tourists covet when they visit the country.
At Murchison Falls, the Nile explodes through a narrow gorge and pours billions of cubic meters of water downstream turning the white pristine water into an expansive placid river course as it flows on its journey to Sudan and farther afield to Egypt..
Recently a section of furious Ugandans attacked Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) and government for attempting to give away Murchison Falls, which they said was the only remaining falls that could attract more international tourists to Uganda.
However, Kamuntu remained hesitant to answer journalists’ questions about whether now government has appended projects the investor will not secretly take up the project after conniving with some members of ERA.
Kamuntu is also fighting for preservation of Murchison because as a minister for tourism, it works for him when more tourists visit Uganda and experience tourist attractions such unraveled and unequaled fog feasted Murchison falls.
