UGANDA’S TOURISM POLICE NOW DEPLOYED ACROSS MOST TOURISMATTRACTIONS
(Posted 12th November 2014)
The 39th Africa Travel Association Annual World Congress’ official opening by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni yesterday was a perfect opportunity to catch up with a great many people, among them the Assistant Commissioner of the Uganda Police Wilson Omoding, who commands the tourism police force, now already over 700 strong.
ACP Omoding was swift to share some of his news about the deployment of his women and men in the field, confirming that tourism police officers are now attached already to many of Uganda’s protected area, i.e. national parks and game reserves, to the lodges and tented camps and have deployed in such tourism cluster areas like Buhoma, the main gateway to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Gorilla National Park. He confirmed that over and above the 700 were additional officers undergoing training with the final number of officers serving in the Tourism Police in the medium term doubling before eventually rising to as many as 3.000.
Afande Wilson, as we here in Uganda would call him, also shared his experience of field visits, more recently to the South West of Uganda where he inspected security arrangements and deployments, not only at key locations but also on patrol along the main tourist hiking trails which have of late been developed in that part of Uganda.
From Kabale over Lake Bunyonyi to Kisoro, Lake Mutanda and on to Nkuringo he travelled on a familiarization tour before checking out the adjoining areas reaching into Queen Elizabeth National Park. The tour allowed him to experience how foreign tourists see the country and allow a close up assessment of security needs, to be sure that all visitors to the Pearl of Africa are safe and secure while on safari.
The tourism police officers all underwent special training in public relations, customer care and how to interact with foreign tourists, to ensure that should their services be needed they can execute their duties as is expected of them in an exemplary fashion and serving as Uganda’s ambassadors over and above carrying out their assigned duties..
To the delight of this correspondent, a former chairman of the Rhino Fund Uganda and the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, did ACP Omoding also confirm that officers are now located on the sanctuary to strengthen security arrangements alongside the sanctuary’s rangers and the UWA personnel deployed at the country’s only rhino sanctuary.
No doubt will these extra security arrangements for tourist visitors go a long way to make sure of trouble free visits to the country, which has in recent years become one of Africa’s main adventure tourism destinations and gained key accolades when named by the Lonely Planet Tourism Guide as their top destination in 2012 and when CNN named Kidepo Valley National Park as their top park a year later.
For added details on Destination Uganda click on www.visituganda.com, www.ugandawildlife.org and also visit www.rhinofund.org
