Uganda Wildlife Authority opens up road to King Rwenzururu's burial site

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has embarked on a programme to open a road that leads to the first king of the Rwenzururu Kingdom in the Rwenzori Mountains.
Late Isaya Mukirania Kyibanzanga I, who led the Bakonzo and the Bamba in a rebellion in 1961 against Toro Kingdom died in 1966. He was buried at the peak of the hill- Bulemba in the steep mountains of Rwenzori in Ihandiro sub - county in Kasese District.

"We are working with the local communities to construct a road so that tourists can reach Bulemba and see where the first king of the Bakonzo was buried," Frederick Kiiza, the Rwenzori Mountains National Park chief warden, said.
UWA has so far constructed a modern hut at Bulemba,  about 500m below the Isaya Mukirania Kyibanzanga's grave and a rest camp along the foot path to the tomb.

The Ihandiro sub - county chairperson, Fenhansi Baluku, confirmed that UWA had already released some money for clearing the bush that had grown on the Murushenga-Kibigha road that leads to Bulemba.

Murushenga-Kibigha road was first made between 1959 and 1960 by the Canadians who owned Kirembe Copper mines to extend the mining to Kigombya in the mountains.
Baluku told a gathering who trekked to Bulemba, 30 km from Bwera town in Bukonzo West, that clearing of the bush had already started to pave way for re - excavating the road.

Officiating at the celebrations that were held under the theme, "Exploring and Sustaining tourism potential in the Rwenzori Mountains," the speaker of the Rwenzururu Kingdom, Enock Muhindo called on the youth to respond positively to what had led the Bakonzo and Bamba to wage rebellion.
He reminded the Rwenzururu subjects that after the demise of Kyibanzanga I, his first born son, Charles Wesley Mumbere Iremangoma, took over the kingdom and on August 15, 1981 declared the end of the war of violence.

Muhindo also advised the Rwenzururu youth to cooperate with fellow youth in Toro Kingdom.

"We must work together to bring peace in the Rwenzori region and live in harmony with other cultural institutions because we cannot develop in isolation, "he stressed.  An American tourist , Lauren Burton, one of those who trekked to Bulemba to attend the celebrations, said: "I have enjoyed being here.  The Rwenzori Mountains are beautiful from every corner. "