Just last week, 7th June an article in the New Vision newspaper sparked a fire amongst tour operators, tourism icons, experts and concerned Ugandans. The article was a Notice of intended application for a licence for the establishment of a 360 MW Hydro Electric power plant on river Victoria-Nile in Kiryandongo and Nwoya districts as the heading was.
Still in this article, the proposed sight for constructing the Hydro power plant was stated using the coordinates Longitude 2016’42.6’’N and Latitude 310 41’08.8’’E which are the exact coordinates for The Murchison falls.
The plant, if constructed, would take up the Murchison falls and thus reducing on the major attractions Uganda has. Not only will the attractions reduce but the flow of the waters of the Nile will be altered. Animals that call the falls home will also be displaced as it is for a fact that they’ll have to give up this part of the park for the Hydroelectric power plant.
The most famous activity in Murchison falls national park is the boat ride on the Nile which takes you to the bottom of the falls and then you hike up to see the top of the falls, if the Plant is constructed there will only be game viewing as the main activity of this richly gifted park.
As the article received a lot of backlash, the Electricity Regulatory Authority made an announcement and clarified that it has not issued a licence for the establishment of the plant but rather received an application for a permit to conduct feasibility studies for the proposed plant.
