Author: admin

Uganda’s Inspectors General of Police

Uganda has been served by several Inspectors-General and Commissioners of Police. Here is a list of Inspector Generals of Police since the country attained its independence in October 1962.

Michael J. Macoun, 1959-1964
Lt. Col. Wilson Erinayo Oryema, 1964-1971
Benjamin Othieno, 1971-1974
Luke Ofungi, 1974-1975
Kassim Musa Obura, 1975-1977
Odria, 1977-1979
David Nsubuga Barlow, 1979
William Musoke, 1979-1980
Boniface Aaron Okoth-Ogola, 1980-1985
Luke Ofungi, 1985-1990
David Psomgen, 1990
Apollo Byekwaso, 1990-1992
John Cossey Odomel, 1992-1999
John Kisembo, 1999-2000
Lieutenant-General Edward Katumba Wamala, 2000-2005
Major-General Edward Kale Kayihura, 2005-2018
Martin Okoth Ochola, March 2018 to March 2024
Geoffrey Katsigazi Tumusiime, March 2024 to date

Sir Edward Muteesa II’s Speech on Independence Day – 9th Oct 1962

Sir. Edward Fredrick Luwangula Muteesa II is the first president of Uganda. He was also the Kabaka of Buganda Kingdom, the largest ethnic group in Uganda. Here is his first speech as the president of Uganda.

Ever wondered how the founder of Modern day Uganda was/has been honored and
commemorated? Well, well, thanks to Buganda Archives, the writing is on the wall. We commemorate the Founder of modern day Uganda every year since 9th
October 1962. Enjoy the history

*Sir Edward Muteesa II Independence Day Speech at Kololo*
*Fellow Countrymen,*
*It shall go down in history, that, it was on the 9th October, 1884, when Ssekabaka Walugembe Muteesa I, the founder of Modern Day Uganda, breathed his last. Ssekabaka Muteesa I was buried in his palace at Nnabulagala, Kasubi on 25th October, 1884.*
* *
*Therefore, I feel both honoured and humbled, to be named after my great grandfather Ssekabaka Walugembe Muteesa, and also because I have lived till this day when the British have relinquished power into our hands, after being under their protection for a period of 68 years.*
* *
*During that period, we have experienced moments of sadness. However, there have also been moments of joy. Nevertheless, we thank the good Lord for His grace, love and, all the efforts made by the Missionaries to develop our nation and country, Uganda.*
* *
*Now, that we are independent, I appeal to you all to work with all your might in whatever you shall do, so as to bring glory to both our kingdoms and the State of Uganda. Let us not allow our differences in nations, religion and colour to be a divisive factor among our people.*
* *
*God Bless Uganda,*
* *
*Sir Col. Edward Muteesa II *
* *
*Kabaka*
* *
*9th October 1962***

Courtesy of Nviiri

What is the Easiest Car to Maintain in Uganda?

4×4 Toyota Rav4 is the easiest rental car to maintain in Uganda. Toyota Rav4 is among the best Toyota models available for hire. Premio car is also popular for its easy maintenance. Compared to most cars, at least Toyota Rav4 and Premio rental cars have spare parts available and also mechanics with vast knowledge with such models.

When choosing the rental car in Uganda for your road trip, it is always important to put into consideration the ease to find the spare parts, especially when you encounter breakdown en-route to your destination. Hiring a car that is easy to maintain is essential, especially on self-drive tour. It can save you from getting stuck.

Toyota Rav4

Toyota Rav4 is not only the easiest car to maintain in Uganda, but also the best alternative for visitors with plans to go on a self-drive rental. The maintenance costs for Toyota Rav4 car rentals are low compared to luxurious vehicles. It costs less to maintain a 4×4 Toyota Rav4 for over 10 years than any average SUV. This makes it the most favorite options not only for travelers but also car hire service providers. Toyota Rav4 rentals provide value-packed experiences.

Toyota Rav4 are compact and come with diverse features. 4×4 Toyota Rav4 features include FM radio, luxurious interior for guests to freely stretch their legs and also to pack their luggage safely. Hiring a 4×4 Toyota Rav4 presents you enormous benefits including unlimited mileage, road assistance, ultimate comfort, eco-friendly, cost effective and many others.

The technical specifications of Toyota Rav4 cars include automatic transmission, capacity of 4-5 pax, powerful engine of 2.0cc, and fuel consumption rate of 8.2 L/100km.

Why rent a 4×4 Toyota Rav4 in Uganda

Enjoy unlimited mileage: A road trip in Toyota Rav4 provides visitors ultimate freedom to explore the wonders of Uganda less of restrictions. With unlimited mileage, you can travel to any part of the country.

Fuel economy: Toyota Rav4 rentals are popular fuel economy vehicles among the Toyota models. With the less fuel consumption, you can spend less.

Cost effective: Toyota Rav4 cars are among the cost-effective model unlike most SUV options such as Land Cruisers, or Prado TX.

Comprehensive Insurance: Toyota Rav4 like most of our rental cars are comprehensively insured. This guarantees you peace of mind as most of the expenses are covered in the comprehensive insurance package.

Versatility: The Rav4 rental cars are full time 4×4 wheel drive vehicles. This makes them the best choice for off-road trip or getting around tough terrain destinations. This is especially if you have plans to travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga Gorilla National Park for gorilla trekking. These iconic primate parks are situated in the far Southwestern Uganda, hillside of the country.

Eco-friendly: Toyota Rav4 are known to have low fuel consumption as well as minimal emissions. This makes them environmentally friendly.

Toyota Premio

Toyota Premio is another easiest car to maintain in Uganda. Premio cars are known for their lower maintenance cost and generally, they are reliable in a long run. It comes with multiple specifications including engine displacement 1496cc, 4 cylinders, manual transmission, and fuel type is petrol. Premio rental cars are also FWD vehicles, with horsepower as well as 4 speed automatic transmission.

Toyota Premio come in a unique style and offers ultimate comfort. When it comes to maintenance costs, reliability and fuel economy; the Toyota Premio rental cars are notably the most balanced option.

Benefits of hiring Toyota Premio

Luxurious interior: Premio rental cars are spacious with adequate room available for visitors to put their luggage.

Smoother engine: Toyota Premio cars have smoother engines which make them comfortable rental options. They are built with highest quality tech with noise, vibration and harshness all contained.

Stability: Premio cars boast of their highest level of stability even at high speeds. It is possible to comfortably negotiate a corner at 80 km per hour. Even if you plan to go off-the road, Premio vehicles are the best.

Fuel efficiency: Toyota Premio cars feature 2000cc engine and they are fuel efficient even if you plan to drive along the highway or urban traffic.

Reliability: Toyota Premio car rentals are among the very few most reliable rental cars. They are ideal for urban road trips.

Affordability: It is possible to find a comfortable Toyota Premio rental at the most affordable rate. They are the cheapest rental car options among most car hire service providers or companies in Uganda.

Toyota Rav4 like premio rental cars can be hired in Uganda with a driver or you can rent it for self-drive. Talk to our expert to have your rental car booked in advance for your road trip in Uganda.

How many days should you a Toyota Rav4 or Premio?

Toyota RAV4 rental cars are available for hire at any time and visitors are not restricted on how many days they want to use it. You can hire a RAV4 car for short road trips that is from 1 day to 4 days or even 10 days plus. Toyota RAV4 rentals are suitable for park safaris, leisure vacation, business trips and more.

How to get the easiest car to maintain in Uganda?

Wondering how you can get the easiest car to maintain in Uganda? The simplest way to rent a car that is easy to maintain on Uganda safari is by booking your car with a reliable car hire service provider or company.

Consider hiring a car outside the airport. Many car hire options are available in most car hire companies outside the airport for instance Entebbe city, Kampala capital, Jinja and others.

Book your car in advance; finding the easiest car to maintain can be challenging and you can be on a safer side if you booked your ride earlier before the actual visit to Uganda.

Specify the kind of the car you want to use. If your target is to drive the easiest car that is easy to maintain, or you want to cut down on maintenance cost for car hire, then disclose to your car rental company about your desires.

Hidden Dangers of Booking Hotels and Lodges Online

In most cases, tourists book for Hotels or Safari Lodges on the day of visiting the destination which sometimes can be disappointing. However, the trend has changed because tourists are now opting for Online Hotel bookings for accommodation facilities in Uganda which is faster but also challenging in some other ways. In this country, booking for Hotel or Lodge Rooms is done directly at the front desk or use of online services of platforms such as Jumia House, Trip Advisor, Travelocity and Expedia among others and what we all look for is the best deal with better prices.

However, the challenges of these online booking services is that sometimes the pictures online do not match with what you might find on-ground. Not only that, the websites of these Online Booking services mentioned do not give details on the Hotel that you might want to know such as details on services, general cleanliness and ambience, quality, food offered, offer wrong hotel location in-line with the activities you wish to participate in hence lack the right location depending on your needs.

There are some hidden dangers or pitfalls to expect when booking for hotels or safari Lodges online and these include;

What you may see online will not be the exact detail on ground. This is a common incident for tourists who visit East African countries especially Uganda and Rwanda. Most of the pictures put online are either photo-shopped. Worst of all, even the reviews online about the Hotel  are written by the employees of the Hotel themselves, friends or some people paid to write good reviews about the establishment. This is very common in Trip Advisor which has not been able to weed-out the problem.

Not only that, these Hotels can be in wrong location with the tourist activities you intend to participate in. For instance, you might do a mistake of booking a Lodge within Buhoma sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park yet you intend to track the mountain gorillas from Rushaga or Nkuringo sectors or vice versa. Imagine booking a Lodge in Ishasha sector (Southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park) yet you intend to participate in a launch cruise within the Kazinga Channel (Northern sector). Trip Advisor or Expedia will not tell you that you have booked for the wrong location of a Hotel or safari Lodge.

It is also common for good Hotels or safari Lodges not to appear Online. The numbers of Hotels or Lodges you see online are not the only ones in Uganda because there are those that don’t appear online or don’t even have Facebook accounts especially the smaller ones yet they provide quality services at affordable rates.

The rates that appear online are always not the actual prices. In most instances, you will see discounted prices yet in actual sense it is just bed and breakfast. When you then add lunch and dinner, you will end up with a higher price that it appeared on the websites. Therefore, don’t allow to be deceived unless if it is half board or full board rate.

Conclusively, Online booking for lodge or Hotel rooms is faster yet has a lot of hidden dangers such as the difference in the actual appearance of the Hotel and how it appears on the websites and possibility of booking the Hotel or Lodge at a wrong location with the tourist activities.

Gorilla and Chimpanzee Tracking in Africa

Are you wondering exactly where to go for chimp and gorilla trekking in Africa? Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo have the best chimp and gorilla trekking tours with high primate population concentration that you can never imagine. Trekking gorillas and chimpanzees is one of the most amazing adventures in Africa and top on most travelers list to Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. For many years now chimpanzees and mountain gorillas are the prime attractions of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo attracting thousands across the globe for gorilla and chimpanzee safaris. The three countries have also done a great job to keep and protect primates though several conservation programs hence maintaining gorilla and chimpanzee tourism in the region. Sensitization has been done to surrounding park communities for gorillas and chimpanzees that today all value the life and survival of primates including the Batwa people of Bwindi forest who sacrificed their ancestral home for mountain gorillas.

Gorilla trekking in Africa

The silverback eyes look bright than the camera flash light in Bwindi forest national park, Virunga national park, Volcanoes national park, Mgahinga national park and Kahuzi beiga national park the only gorilla trekking parks in East Africa. The biggest primate species on earth and the most impressive –the gorillas can be trekked and seen in just a day and seeing them in their natural parks is a grantee of about 98%.

All tourists who go gorilla tracking are allowed to spend only one hour with the gorillas for observation and photography after enjoying the forest beauty and other forest habitat encounter during the search of the silverback and its family members.

Gorillas are only tracked by adults above 15 years of age due to challenging hikes during the trekking process. Somehow it’s for the fit not those with healthy problems since the trek is estimated to last between 2-6 hours. One is also allowed to track gorillas twice provided he or she has two free days around the park since treks are done one a day.

However, Uganda has opportunities for mountain gorilla habituation so one can spend more time with the gorillas just like researchers. Gorilla permits in Rwanda cost $1500 year round, $800 in Uganda and $450 for Congo, the same price that goes down to only$200 in Congo from mid march to mid May and $450 in Uganda for April, May and November. All gorilla trekking destinations are open year round for those looking forward to trek gorillas in their natural habitats.

Chimpanzee Trekking & Habituation

Looking at first moving primates in their conserved home is a great experience in Africa especially if done in Nyungwe forest, Virunga national park, Kibale forest, Kyambura gorge, Kalinzu forest and Budongo forest the best chimpanzee viewing spots in East Africa.

The sight of a populated chimpanzee family as they play and jump across tree branches is a greatest primate display on earth found only in Africa. The chimpanzee trekking, viewing and habituation experience can be enjoyed year round depending on the availability of chimpanzee permits in your favorite location.

However, chimpanzee permits for Virunga and Nyungwe forest cost $100 per a trek,$150 in Kibale forest in Uganda.$80 for Budongo low season,$110 Budongo high season  and $50 in Kyambura gorge plus  Kalinzu forest.

Chimpanzee habituation goes for all day from the time chimp’s wake up to the time they retire while trekking lasts between 2-4 hours. Those interested in Chimpanzee feeding and viewing at Ngamba Island, make sure you get the necessary vaccinations before heading to the island to spend time with the beautiful amazing primates. To sum it up chimpanzee and gorilla trekking go hand in hand when it comes to primate safaris in Africa.

Obote Swearing in as President

Apollo Milton Obote ruled Uganda twice as the president of the Republic of Uganda. He became the president of Uganda in 1966 and he was overthrown in 1972 by Idi Amin Dada.

Obote got a chance to gain power in 1980 from a highly contested election that the opposition termed as rigged!

On 10th December, 1980, Apollo Milton Obote was sworn in as Uganda’s president, becoming the first African president ousted in a military coup to recapture the presidency.

Milton Obote took the oath of office Monday as president of Uganda nine years after he was ousted by Idi Amin and called on his countrymen to unite in building ‘a new future’ for the African nation.

Obote, 55, whose election was disputed by the opposition party, drove in his white Mercedes Benz to the steps of Parliament where the country’s new chief justice, George Masika — attired in red robes and a white wig — administered the oath.

‘In my life I have faced challenges and intimidating tasks,’ said Obote, who led Uganda from independence until overthrown by Amin in 1971. ‘But never have I been faced with formidable challenges such as we now face.’

Hundreds of cheering Ugandans waved posters of Obote and sang and danced as the government and military bands played the national anthem and the theme of the Uganda People’s Congress, Obote’s party.

‘We have problems, we have friends, we have the ability to do a number of things, we have natural resources,’ said Obote, who has promised to abandon past socialist views to rescue the country’s economy from the chaos of the Amin years.

‘It may be difficult but together it should be possible for all of us to rebuild Uganda.’

In Washington, the State Department declined comment on Obote’s election, saying it would rather await a report by a British Commonwealth observer team on alleged irregularities in the election.

Obote called upon the Democratic Party to accept last week’s national elections. But party leader Paul Ssemogerere stayed away from the inauguration and called a strategy meeting of the party’s national leadership.

The Democratic Party has charged that widespread intimidation and tampering with election returns helped Obote’s party win 69 seats in the 126-seat Parliament. The Democratic Party won 55 seats and two seats went to a smaller party.

Obote told the Democratic Party its ‘role as the opposition party is as challenging as the role of the UPC and the government. Our destiny is the same. We either rise or sink together.’

The new president, who spent nine years exiled in Tanzania during the Amin regime, said ‘We shall work for reconciliation, we shall insist on no revenge. The past is gone, we start a new future.’

Obote’s party won 17 seats — more than the margin of victory — after Democratic Party candidates were disqualified. While the disqualifications were based on flimsy legal grounds, the opposition party is expected to have little success in changing the results in court.

The army ousted him for the second time in 1985.

20 Basic Facts About Uganda

Uganda is a landlocked country found on the Eastern side of Africa. The country attained its independence in 1962 from the British. Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. Uganda’s current president is Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Currently the country has an estimated population of over 40 million people. We have compiled  20 basic facts about Uganda that you need to know.

1. Uganda is called the pearl of Africa,  a name bestowed by former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.
2. The Grey-crowned Crested Crane is Uganda’s official Bird.
3. Very good hospitality. Ugandans are very known for hospitality and the style of welcoming there guests
4. Uganda is ethnically and culturally a diverse country. It has over 56 tribes.
5. Agriculture is an important part of the country’s economy as it employs the majority of the Ugandans (almost 1/3rd).
6. Uganda has plenty of lakes and rivers.

Facts about Uganda Rolex

7. A Rolex isn’t a watch in Uganda – it’s a type of street food. A Rolex is egg wrapped in chapati with ingredients like vegetables.

8. Ugandan women have one of the world’s highest fertility rates. The average fertility rate is 5.8 children per woman.
9. Home of gorillas. Uganda has over the half of the population of the world’s gorillas. Mountain gorillas are mainly found in Bwindi impenetrable forest.
10. Uganda is a landlocked country. The landscape is made up of savannas, mountains, and lakes. It is surrounded by Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

More facts about Uganda

11. Uganda is the size of the State of Oregon. The Population of the country is almost 10 times that of Oregon.
12. It is not uncommon for Ugandans to be late-punctuality is not very important. A person may arrive 30 minutes late, or sometimes even up to two hours after they were supposed to be there.
13. Uganda is the second largest producer of bananas in the world, falling second only to India. The country produces an estimated 11 million tons annually.
14. Uganda is the Tropical Fruit Basket of Africa.
15. Uganda’s official languages are English and Swahili. Luganda, a central language, is widely spoken across the country
16. As of 2018, Uganda is divided into 121 districts. Rural areas of districts are subdivided into sub-counties, parishes, and villages. Municipal and town councils are designated in urban areas of districts.
17. Boda – Boda Motorcycles are the fastest and most dangerous form of people Transport in Uganda.

18. Mobile Money is the way most Ugandans send money to family, pay bills.
19. Uganda is the Youngest Country in the World with half of its population under the age of 14 years. The life expectancy for the average Ugandan is only early 50 years.
20. Ugandan ladies never call. They only beep if they want to tell you something.