KABALE – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has ordered for the arrest of tour operators in Kigezi Region who habitually con unsuspecting tourists and rob them of their money.
The President made these remarks on Tuesday, July 30, 2019, while addressing the media at the Kabale State Lodge on Makanga hill in Kabale Municipality.
Then, Museveni said that such tour operators whom he termed as fake should be arrested because they are enemies of the country.
“We need such fake characters arrested. They are mishandling their duties and causing the country to lose lots of income from the tourists who may not feel at ease with their security in the country” President Museveni remarked.
The head of state is currently traversing the country where he has been addressing gatherings in a nationwide drive.
He is spreading the message of Operation Wealth Creation and in which he is advising families on effective ways to fight poverty.
His comments were a response to a journalist who exposed the fraudulent tour guides who routinely sign contracts with foreign tourists to drive them but before they complete the work, they abandon their clients while other shady guides take off with the tourists’ money and valuable belongings.
Early this week, the Tourism Police Commander-in-charge of Kigezi region Emmanuel Tinka said that his office had received complaints from five tourists who are accusing Mr Kigezi Richard Tusasibwe the Chief Executive Director of Gatatu Safaris Limited a tour and travel company in for allegedly conning them.
Mr Tusasibwe is alleged to have signed a contract worth 7.9 million shillings with five tourists from United States of America last week.
The agreement stipulated picking of the said tourists from Entebbe International Airport and driving them to Kisoro town.
The contract also required Tusasibwe to book for the foreign guests a hotel and five Chimpanzee and Gorilla trekking permits after he was paid part of the money to help him effectively conduct bookings.
However, when the tourists reached Kisoro town, Mr Tusasibwe abandoned them at Chameleon Hill Hotel, he then switched off his phones and disappeared.
In February 2019, Didan Atukunda a tour operator from Mamba Gorilla Safari was arrested after he failed to refund 99 million shillings that was mistakenly sent to his account by a Dutch tourist for a gorilla trekking trip.
