Karoro Okurut
6 August 2007
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Kampala — The publicity arm for the commonwealth Heads of government meeting (CHOGM) has come under spotlight for both good and bad reasons. The arm has been criticised for the billboards they have put up.
Undoubtedly, the committee is putting a lot of effort in this uphill task but much, much more needs to be done by way of advertising Uganda and time is running out. CHOGM presents us with a very rare opportunity to advertise our 'garden of Eden' (yes, truly Uganda is Eden) and we may not get such an opportunity in a hundred years!
CHOGM must be linked with tourism and we must think of post-CHOGM in those terms. Right from Entebbe airport, Uganda's icons must be visible on billboards. Many have argued that parading pictures of athletes, musicians, disc jockeys (DJs) and corporate managers does not give Uganda mileage in publicity. I entirely agree. But for athletes on billboards, I must say there is all reason to have Dorcus Inzikuru up on them. She is an international figure and one of Uganda's pride jewels.
Inzikuru ended Uganda's 33-year wait for a gold medal when she won the inaugural women's 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki in nine minutes 18.24 seconds. And, at her debut at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, Inzikuru won the 3,000 metres steeplechase gold medal in 9:19:51. She has indeed marketed Uganda both locally and internationally, in her role in sports.
Uganda is endowed with abundant flora and fauna, endowed with rich diverse culture that could market Uganda far beyond CHOGM. A lot of investments have been attracted to Uganda and to be more specific, in the area of hotel infrastructure. These are supposed to enhance Uganda's tourism potential even after CHOGM. But my question and the same that has been echoed by many people is that, what are we doing to sell Uganda beyond CHOGM in order to have these facilities utilised and attract revenue to the country? That is where people's criticism about the current CHOGM billboards gains ground. What should be done is to advertise things that are not time-bound. Uganda's giftings by nature, the rare mountain gorillas (and don't say that is a tired spectacle like I hear some ignorant people say), Bwindi is a world heritage site.
There are the captivating water falls like the Sipi and Murchison falls. There are the breathtaking islands: Bulago and Ngamba islands on Lake Victoria. Incidentally Ngamba Island is a chimp sanctuary. It is host to the Jane Goodal institute named after the resolute Jane Goodal who would make sure she gets chimps smuggled out of Uganda. She would put them on Ngamba Island and if you have not been there, you havent seen anything yet. Uganda's diverse cultures are a tourist attraction in themselves (ask my friend Maria Baryamujura. She is a consultant in this area and I always gnash my teeth in anger when I see us not utilising such potential as she has in community-based tourism).
We could therefore have billboards featuring a Muganda woman peeling matooke (organic food, mind you) seated on a beautifully woven mat, the Munyakore woman churning milk in a gourd, the Karimajong woman with her timeless beads, the Luo woman mingling kalo (one of the most nutritious foods on planet earth), etc. the ever smiling UPE children light up Uganda's environment, the Kasubi tombs (world heritage site), the Namugongo martyrs' shrine where thousands of pilgrims trek every year from across the globe (home to the first black saints), the Bahai temple, the biggest in Africa, all these and many more need to be showcased.
We should emulate President Museveni who markets Uganda wherever he goes or whenever he speaks. One of his major tasks is to entice investors to Uganda. So these sporadic investments are not out of nothing. They are to a great extent, a result of a talented gift Uganda has in the person of President Museveni.
What part of CHOGM publicity should be doing now, is educating Ugandans on the benefits that will be derived as a result of hosting CHOGM. They should be able to draw examples from previous countries that hosted this meet and show Ugandans how they and their country will benefit from this meeting.
These examples should be able to show those countries before and after CHOGM. Uganda is the 5th African country to host CHOGM. The first CHOGM in Africa was in 1979 in Zambia, followed by Zimbabwe in 1991, South Africa in 1999 and Nigeria in 2003. People are told that CHOGM brings a world of opportunities in terms of investments and marketing initiative to highlight Uganda's investment potential, and it is these world of opportunities that should be shown to Ugandans.
Information available is that close to or over 500 international journalists are expected at the meeting in November. The implication of this in terms of marketing Uganda is enormous. Press reports have also indicated that people up to now do not know what CHOGM is. To many of us, the publicity contract was a long time ago awarded to Saatchi and Saatchi and by now we expected all our local fm stations to be blaring adverts about CHOGM for every Ugandan.
The airwaves were liberalised to give information to the wananchi and fm radios now over 135 licensed were part oh this visionary idea.
We must take the population to be part of CHOGM and identify with it instead of them feeling detached. CHOGM, as the President has repeatedly pointed out, is for Uganda and Ugandans to market themselves to the outside world. Our moment of truth is now, we lose it, and we will have lost it forever.
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