A few months ago, news broke out that the government of Uganda was planning on giving away Murchison Falls in Murchison Falls National Park to a South African energy company known as Bonang Power and Energy to construct a hydro-electric power dam over it.
The news attracted a lot of backlash from environmentalists, people from the tourism industry and the general public saying that constructing a dam over the falls will make Uganda lose out on the revenue generated by the beautiful scenery from tourists that throng the place.
Because of this backlash, government has backtracked on this idea. In a Parliamentary session yesterday, State Minister for Environment Gorret May Kitutu said that the ministry had no plans to construct a dam over Murchison Falls.
Energy Minister Peter Lokeris confirmed Kitutu’s statement on the floor of Parliament, saying that National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) rejected an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), and concluded that there are no plans by the ministry to have a dam project effected.
Murchison Falls National Park, the place where the falls are located is the largest national park in Uganda, and one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Murchison falls in particular boasts of one the highest waterfalls in Uganda, at over 40 meters high.