We have learned nothing from our past mistakes, are we just simply damn or rather stupid to still have learned nothing from the past selfish decisions made?
As you read this post, kindly pardon me for the unkind words and or phrases there might be in this article its the least of vocabulary I would think best suits the characters herein mentioned.
Let me take you back to the year 1954 when the Owen Falls Dam was constructed in a bid to generate up to 150 Megawatts of hydroelectric power for the then rapidly growing Industrial capital Of Uganda present-day Jinja .and neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. The construction suggested by a British engineer Charles Redvers Westlake in 1947 whose completion in 1954 marked the “burial” of the beautiful Rippon Falls
In 2006 the world learned of a top-secret document from 1956 indicating the construction of the Nalubale Power station as being a colonial move to oust President Nasser the then president of Egypt. The dam was to reduce the water in the Nile. However, this plan was not executed because it would have adverse effects and cause floods in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Rippon Falls was lost to a selfish struggle from power and not for the love of development as they keep sugar-coating their statements – I mean the parties involved.
A second case study to prove that we have learned nothing from our past mistakes is the destruction of the Bujagali falls. In 2011, the falls were submerged by the commissioning of the 90-foot high Bujagli Power Dam Intended to generate an extra 200 Megawatts to bring to end the acute electricity crisis impacted the livelihoods of millions of Ugandans and threatened the country’s development This is reported to have affected a whopping 6,800 people in the neighbouring. Bujagali Falls surroundings were a birding spot where Uganda tour Operators often took clients for birdwatching excursions and Whitewater Rafting.
And now the money-hungry gluttons are eyeing the precious Uhuru Falls in Murchison Falls National Park
Uhuru Falls is a smaller fall compared to the glorious Murchison Falls which lends its name to the surrounding park. Birthed In 1962 after the Heavy rains that caused a diversionary fall (Uhuru Falls). A feasibility study has been okayed by the government to ascertain what they call Scientific evidence of whether it is possible to construct a Dam on the precious Uhuru falls. Joint efforts from all stakeholders in tourism fraternity have seen a petition signed, and Uganda Tour operators press conference was held on 10th/December at the top of Murchison Falls. Being a Ugandan, I have learned a few things about my government, and how they run things – it’s clear that they intend to continue with the plan of constructing a dam at Uhuru Falls which is bound to ruin the entire Murchison Falls National park – Uganda’s largest conservation area and home to four of the big five.
Murchison Falls is considered to be one Of the worlds Most spectacular waterfalls with up to 300 cubic meters per second (11,000 ft³/s) of water gashing through a narrow 07-meter gap and falling over 40 feet down to form the Murchison Falls.
Bonang Power and Energy a South African based firm whose website ((See https://www.bonangpower.co.za/) no longer exits is still pushing hard On the Ugandan government to authorise the construction of a dam at Uhuru Falls. However, we noticed that the above-mentioned firm is none existent and it’s a stupid move by some selfish government official to rob Uganda of her beautiful heritage. Tourism is a booming revenue earner for Uganda and is recorded to have brought in about $1.6 billion in the financial year 2018/2019.
Inclusion, we have learned nothing from our past mistakes, If at all we had learned something, then “we” wouldn’t be making such stupid decisions that only make a few richer and the majority jobless – all in the name of increasing power “mbu” for development.
