Tourism in Ntungamo District- Bugona Tree

Bugona tree (Ekiti Kyomugabe/Eky’Omugabe)

Introduction

The tree is found in Bugona I village, Kashenyi parish in Ngoma Sub County 20km east of Rubaare Township.  The tree of the ficus species that is locally known as Omukunyu was planted by the king of Rwanda (Mwami as the title) after he had defeated the Omugabe of Ankole kingdom as a sign of marking the territories. The existence of this tree can be evidenced by the existence of the extensive root system some which stretch as far as 100m away from the tree. It was planted with other trees; one in Kyamugaashe (Ntungamo district) and another one in Masaka district when he had come from Entebbe. These trees were to represent that the Mwami had conquered the areas of Buganda, Ankole and Mpororo. The king also conquered other areas like Kigezi and in Congo in the area occupied by the people called the Banyamurenge.

The king used one of his servants called Nyindo wa Kagyezi from Ruhaama who brought the plant from there before the soil could dry and it’s believed that the king put there the leaf of the plant and it started growing. After the death of the king, the funeral rites were headed by queen who was known as Muhumuza and among other places the rites were performed from this tree.

 Among the people who came for the funeral rites, it is only the family of Rwabugiri that survived but the rest disappeared from there and even the white cow they had brought and even the ones that remained were covered by something on their faces that could not enable them see. They took back what they brought and went to Rwanda. Since then, the tree has been regarded as the one with the healing powers and boys and girls always go there before they get married for consultations and blessings and this has been maintained up to today.

But because the king had many wives, Muhumuza and her son (Biregyeya) were persecuted by Musinga and his mother (Kanjogyera) and they came and settled in the place known as Rutobo in Ngoma. There were the hot springs that are believed that it is where Muhumuza used to heal the people and the healing water that comes from the stone is still there up to today.

She also planted another tree called Rugomero that also has the healing powers. Mr Karamba, who is the caretaker, asserts that because they are holy places, the sinners are not supposed to go there as he says that if you pick the money or milk that is offered, you can become mad. Nobody can fetch firewood from that tree apart from him as he has to first perform some things and that firewood he fetches can only be used for lighting the fire there but not for taking home. He adds that if it happens that a person unknowingly picks firewood from there, he/ she can be beaten by the things you can not see or touch. 

The site is an active shrine of a religious cult known as the Balangi who like the Bachwezi cult gather around the tree on Saturdays for day and night prayers. The lemon grass is spread at the roots of the tree and the fire place is there where the divine worshipers make fire because sometimes they spend nights there. 

The other interesting features at the place is the Omukunyu tree itself that forms a good canopy which is all around the place forming a good shade for the worshipers as some of its branches touch the ground ( see picture 1 above)

The stories on how the tree came into existence are told by Mr. Karamba who is acting as the current caretaker of the Bugona Tree and the cultural importance of the tree. The instructions are also given by the divine worshipers like not harvesting firewood from the tree as he can help them light the fire.

When the people come at the site for worshiping, different rituals are performed and offerings given in terms of milk, different harvests and even money.

The values Bugona tree

Traditional healing is the main cultural importance of the site because people from different places from the surrounding communities and others from Rwanda come to the tree for the blessings and healing as it is believed to be having the powers that were left by Muhumuza (the wife of Umwami).

The tree has existed up to now because of the cultural importance or value that is attached to it and the respect given to is by the surrounding communities as it is taken to be sacred. Because of this, the tree has managed to survive the destruction by the cattle keepers and even firewood collectors.

The site has a remarkable research value as little information has been collected about it and little research done about the existence and the cultural values of the place as well as the ownership and caretaking of the place.

NYERO ROCK PAINTINGS

NYERO ROCK PAINTINGS
Introduction
Nyero is found 9 km west of Kumi town in Kumi district in Eastern Uganda. It is an early Iron Age site and the rock paintings are found in 3 rock shelters, some of the paintings represent canoes, animals and other art impressions.

The visitor arrivals at Nyero


From the table above, the number of the visitors to Nyero has been increasing slightly since 1999 fort example the years that have the complete figure show an increase from 466 in 2000 to 304 in 2006 up to the month of October that indicate that the numbers may have been higher that the ones indicated here.

The results also show that there is an increase number of local people that go to the place which is an indication that the people surrounding the place have got to appreciate the attractiveness of Nyero and want to discover the uniqueness of the rock art in the area. This is very important in a way that it helps the area to keep receiving the visitors even the low of off-peak seasons. The figures show that the local people contribute highly with the figure over 2000, followed by the foreigners with the arrivals of about 700, the schools children with about 120 and lastly the people from the rest of the East African countries (about 50).


The results also show that there are few schools and school groups that go to visit the site as the numbers are still very low as the highest number was in 2005v that received about 50 school children and the low ones were in 2000 with the number of about 9.

The table also shows that there are few people from the other East African countries of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi as they show a very low number of the arrivals. For the period indicated in the table, only the highest number was in 2000 when the site received about 27 visitors.

Though there has been an increase in the visitor arrivals at Nyero, the numbers have been fluctuating between the years for example the numbers from 466 in 2000 to 410 in 2001 that shows a decline in arrivals. The figures then rose to 431 in 2004 and then an increase to 482 visitors in the following year.

The study also indicated that most of the foreign tourists were from the United Kingdom, followed by the Germany, then United States of America, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and other countries most especially from the European countries. The rest of Africa also indicated the low visitor numbers with few from Nigeria and South Africa.

Comments and recommendations from the visitors
From the table above, the local people have the higher arrivals to the site but the study showed that most of the local people are from the surrounding areas of Kumi, Soroti and Mbale districts while the rest of the country has few people that go there. This therefore indicates that the place is not well known to other people that calls up mass advertising and publicity.

There is a need for the government to integrate such things as cultural and natural heritage into the school curriculum such that the children can learn more about them and the ways on how they can protect the national heritage. The low turn up of the school children may be due to the fact that it is not very relevant to what they study.

There is need to target the East African countries to come to the site as the figures show that the people are still few. This can be done by the tour operators and travel companies through including the site in designing the itineraries and in the brochures as this can also help during the off-peak seasons.



The majority of the visitors urged that the place needs to be preserved as some were saying that it should not be let to die, it should not be destroyed, it should be kept safe and preserved for future generation.

Some of the visitors commented on the site not having the site office that can provide enough information to the visitors and enforcement of the low and easy protection of the site.

There is a need to rehabilitate the area and good maintenance in terms of cleanliness and slashing the whole place

There is a need for directional signage at the site such that the people can easily move allover the place and that the marks should be put at the entrance to help as people get in.

There is need to improve on the facilities for the visitors like the toilets and even their maintenance in terms of cleaning. Other facilities that are needed at the site include the areas where the visitors can sit and have rest. This therefore means that the area needs the shade for sunshine.
The other facilities needed at the site include camping facilities, and refreshment facilities like a canteen.

More information is needed to be provided top the people who visit Nyero and even the ones that may need to visit as some visitors to the site were asking how old the paintings are an indication that there is no information provided about the site. This should be the work of the ministries concerned like the Ministry of Tourism Trade and Industry, Uganda Tourist Board and the tour operators.

More restrictions are needed in form of the warnings like the ones restricting the visitors from touching the rocks with their hands which may rub off the paintings after a period of time.

There is need for the government support in terms of providing the funds for the maintenance of the place and paying the guide who works at the place. The government can also help in the provision of the promotional materials like leaflets and brochures.

More activities can be introduced around the place like rock climbing, nature walks and bird watching that can bring in bigger numbers of the tourists in the area hence enriching the welfare of the people around the area.

The fees should be put in place such that the money collected can help in the maintenance of the place and payment of the guide/ caretaker that is at the place.

More protection of the area is needed at the site as the areas needs fencing and to be marked to protect it from human interference and activities.

PROPOSED ESTABLISHMENT OF HERITAGE ROOTS, A COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION (CBO)

Introduction
The heritage club will be established mainly for the restoration and preservation of the national cultural and natural heritage through different activities or the working areas. It will be established and run by the young people with the help of the group of resourceful persons.

Mission
Restoration and preservation of our heritage among the communities for personal and national sustainable development.

Vision
Having a rich national heritage and local communities with the respect of one another’s culture for the cultured generations.

Objectives
To identify and restore the areas and objects of our national heritage
To promote awareness among the communities of the importance of heritage (sites and objects)
To enable people to become aware of the present-day and future threats facing our world heritage
To encourage the communities to get involved in the conservation on a local, regional and national levels
To restore and improve the peoples’ skills, potentials and their indigenous knowledge.
To promote tourism in Ntungamo District based on heritage resources

ACTIVITIES
As the part of heritage, the club will be focusing on the issues concerning;
· Natural heritage, concerning natural resources, (not man-made), places, objects and intangible attributes including the countryside and natural environment, including flora and fauna and landscape like the rock shelters
· Tradition regarding the beliefs or customs and practices inherited from ancestors
· Oral tradition for example, of folktales, sayings, songs, or chants that regards the ways how a society transmits its oral history, oral literature, oral law and other forms of knowledge across generations without any form of writing system like the method of counting among the Banyankole.
· Industrial Heritage involving the monuments from the industrial culture, the buildings and artifacts of industry which are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and reserved for the benefit of future generations. This includes industries like salt mining, smelting and stone works and other industries that involved the works of art.
The club will have a wide range of activities/ working areas which will include;
Heritage education
The club will make sure that the communities are well versed with the world heritage and the different laws governing the conservation and preservation of heritage
The club will also have different community outreach programs on the education about the importance of the heritage both at the local, regional and national levels.
Organization of the workshops, seminars, and use of the media like radio and television talk shows.
Staging of the plays and traditional songs, recitations using the traditional instruments within the communities

Research and monitoring
This will involve the identification of the heritage sites like cultural sites, caves of spiritual importance and objects like the ones used in dances, ways of lives and during the social gatherings
The club will take the responsibility of educating the communities on the values of the heritage in form of places and objects
Monitoring the changes on the sites and objects in relation to the human activities and increasing population.

Collection and documentation
The club will be collecting and preserving the heritage materials in form of traditional objects and other forms of art and sculpture which are facing extinction due to modern technology
Other information will be collected and preserved as archives like the traditional music, recitations. The information about the heritage material (places and objects) will also be kept and preserved by the club. This will be inform of tape recordings, videos, statistics and other important information like the traditional names of the objects and their importance

Information dissemination
The collected information will be availed to the communities in form of leaflets, newsletter, magazines and brochures
The objects collected will be put on the displays for the community for appreciation in the information or resource centre.


Events organization
As a means to encourage the communities to participate in the restoration and preservation of the national heritage, the club will be organizing different events which will benefit the communities like;
Competitions where the people will compete in different traditional activities and events like games (board games, wrestling, goat fighting etc...), cooking of the traditional foods, dances and drama among others.
Staging the plays and drama and traditional music by the members to the public for the appreciation of their cultures
Organization of the exhibitions and fairs where the people will exhibit their skills in the form of objects which are made like the hand crafts which are made with the natural and traditional materials and indigenous knowledge (IK). These will include foods, drinks, traditional ways of lives, traditional architecture, traditional music instruments, traditional tools, wood carvings, basketry, pottery, art and sculpture among others. The literature will also be exhibited like the books about the local cultures and communities and dictionaries of the local languages. Pictorial exhibition will also involve those of the places of cultural and traditional importance.

Tourism development
This will involve both farm tourism and cultural tourism in the district.
The tours will also be organised for the tourists and other interested persons to the different heritage sites and to the communities
Farm tours will be organized for people to the farms to learn the traditional methods of farming used in the district, preparation of the local or banana beer, as well as gastronomic tourism.
More production will be encouraged to sell to the tourists like souvenirs food products

Skills development
The club will be involved in making the objects with the use of the local materials like traditional weapons (spears and arrows), handcrafts (baskets, pots, wood carvings) among others.
These skills will also be extended to the communities and schools to practice them as the part of their handwork.