East African Gazette
Kampala
The youngest king of East Africa and globally is not at rest, he wants locals and foreigners to embrace local tourism. On Friday Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukiidi IV premiered the Margherita Peak expedition movie at International University of East Africa (IUEA) and attracted many stakeholders.
During the premiering of the movie the Toro King, recalled the ten days of exhaustive and hard work before summiting Mt. Rwenzori’s Margherita Peak which stands 16,000 feet (about 5100 meters) above sea level.
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“Reaching Margherita Peak was a pivotal milestone for the expedition as it meant that all I had sacrificed has now claimed dividends,” he said.
The theatre room where the movie was premiered left everyone silenced, many could not believe the king himself could climb the tallest mountain in Uganda.
None spoke until the movie reached the climax, only to watch the experience of how the king made it to the peak of the mountain.
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By the end of the movie, the Oyo was already an inspiration and the majority of the attendees already had feelings of visiting the place.
Climbing the mountain was a long-time dream that the king wanted to achieve, he had earlier wanted to challenge the great explorers who once climbed it.
“Finally, it was here just a stone thrown away from my hands and seemingly the most beautiful thing I have ever done so far to set into history and follow those who had once before pleased at this marvelous landmark 16000 feet above sea level.
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I had made it to the place that I once dreamed of as a child to climb the majestic Mt. Rwenzori,” he said.
However, the king was concerned about the decreasing glaciers and soon the beauty of the mountain could disappear.
“The time for decisive action is now. As we embark on the premier of King Oyo Rwenzori Mountain documentary, let us always be mindful of our responsibility to protect and preserve our environment,” he said.
According to Toro kingdom prime minister Steven Kiyingi, the milestone, among others, had taken the love and respect the people of Toro have for their king to a new notch.
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“What King Oyo has demonstrated through this world-class highly educational movie challenges the young people in the audience to not only see the move for entertainment but get encouraged to improve the climate,”
Joan Else Kantu, the Toro Kingdom tourism minister said the action by the King to climb Rwenzori and see it himself if those glaciers are still there, was a sign of braveness and an act of promoting Tourism
“Many people just but our King decided to take action” Kintu noted
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She noted that all action is geared to increase on the number tourists coming in the Country
During the event, Dr Emeka Akaezuwa, the vice-chancellor of the IUEA, applauded Tooro Kingdom choosing IUEA to launch the Royal Rwenzori Mountain Expedition, saying the university is committed to partner with Toro Kingdom.
“IUEA has officially partnered with Toro Kingdom to launch a groundbreaking initiative called transformative agricultural technology that aims to revolutionize farming practices in the region” Dr Emeka noted
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Akaezuwa said the technology is very significant for the people since it enables small-holder farmers, buyers, technologists to come on one platform and do business for the prosperity of the kingdom.
Uganda’s statistics
According to Uganda’s current statistics, the country experienced a great rise in the number of international travelers, by 58.8% from 512,945 to 814,508 tourists in 2022, with the sector showing a recovery of 52.2% from the 2018 levels.
Uganda is earning about 2,718.0b ($0.736b) from tourism, accounting for 12.2% of the total exports and 41.4% in visitor exports from the previous year, although there was still a notable decline of 47.5% compared to the levels recorded in 2019.
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About Rwenzori Mountain
In 1994, the Rwenzori Mountains were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and later as a Ramsar Site in 2008 due to the unique beauty and vegetation zones marked by grassland, montane forest, bamboo, heather, and afro-alpine moorland zones that support diverse species of birds and other wildlife.
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The Rwenzori Ecosystem is home to 54 Albertine rift endemic species: 18 mammal species, 09 reptile species, 06 amphibian species, and 21 bird species. Over 217 bird species, including the Rwenzori Turaco, the Bamboo Warbler, the Golden Winged Sunbird, and the Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, have been recorded, making the ecosystem an important bird-watching site in Uganda.
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The Function attracted different dignities Xavier Sticker, the France Ambassador to Uganda, Fatih Ak, the Turkish Ambassador to Uganda, IUEA top management and students, Tooro Kingdom officials, Ministry of Tourism among others