The government recently announced that it has gazetted four internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps as tourists’ attraction sites,

The announcement was made by the newly appointed Tourism State Minister Agnes Akiror while officiating at the workshop for archaeology, environment and heritage around Lake Victoria at Brisk Hotel in Jinja.

Ms Akiror, who called the package ‘dark tourism’, said the four IDP camps will be used to promote peace as “we remember our unfortunate past”. She added that communities living around the IDPs will manage and earn a living from the sites, besides empowering them to come out of the misery.

The sites

The minister named Barlonyo, Aboke Girls, Lokudi and Pabo, as the four camps. She added that already the ministry is undertaking training of communities to manage these tourist sites. The Lord’s Resistance Army is reported to have killed over 300 people at Bralonyo, another 200 people were killed at Lokudi in Gulu District, while Pabo in Amuru District was the largest IDP camp in northern Uganda at the height of the 20-year-old insurgency.

Ms Akiror added that a dormitory shall be constructed at Aboke Girls, as a statement that children and women are not “weapons of war”. She said it is unfortunate that several girls from Aboke Girls School have not been seen, while others are still undergoing the trauma of being captured by a brutal rebel outfit under the leadership of Joseph Kony.

Ministry’s support

The minister who commended archaeologists Dr Ceri Ashley and Dr Julius Lejju for the research which revealed how iron works around Lake Victoria brought about breakthrough technology and facilitated state building and destruction, added that, the ministry will support the sites around IDPs to educate especially youth on the effects of war, while learning how to resolve conflict peacefully.

Ms Jackie Nyiracyiza, a history and archaeology conservator in the department of museum and monuments said, the budget has allocated a billion shillings to fund museums and archaeological sites. The junior minister also commented on the controversial development of the land of the national museum saying, the issue has been forwarded to Mr Museveni, who prioritised the idea.