STOP DESTROYING WHAT IS IN PLACE

Uganda still has a lot of land. It is not clear why some people make strategies for prime land hence destroying what is in place. The demolition of the museum is a case in point. Why not put that infrastructure else where? I join my voice to say, NO to the demolition.
William Kituuka

EXPERTS OPPOSE DESTRUCTION OF THE UGANDA MUSEUM
By Reuben Olita

THE Society of Africanist Archaeologists has appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to rescind the planned decision of erecting a 60-storied Trade Centre on the grounds where the Uganda Museum now stands.
According to available information, the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry gave permission for the construction of the building, which will also accommodate the ministry offices.
In a letter to President Yoweri Museveni, the society’s president Dr. Chapurukha Kusimba said the planned demolition of the Museum to give way to a trade centre will effectively end the 102-year history of one Uganda’s oldest cultural institutions.
“We urge the Government to protect this heritage by avoiding any further deterioration of the collections through the proposed relocation for temporary storage and return to a small space in a trade rather than cultural centre,” Kusimba, who is a professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said.
Chapurukha also urged the Government to develop a plan to prevent interference with the Museum and include plans to prevent encroachment of the undeveloped Museum land and its surroundings.
In the 1970s, the Government, then under General Idi Amin, presided over the destruction of the old Museum at Lugard’s Fort.
This act was decried by many Ugandans and was indeed viewed as a culturally devastating act against its people,” he said.
“I implore you to reconsider this imminent act, which will be seen by Ugandans around the world in very much the same vein, especially given the unfortunate destruction of the Kasubi Tombs — Kampala’s only World Heritage site — last March.
Founded in 1908, the Uganda Museum is the principle repository of the material culture of the people of Uganda.