MUSEVENI DIRECTS HOIMA AIRPORT RENAMED KABALEGA

By UG Reports

HOIMA: President Museveni has directed that Kabaale International Airport in Hoima, which is currently under construction, be renamed Kabalega International Airport.

This will be in memory of the revered king of Bunyoro, Chwa II Kabalega.

The development was announced by the State Minister for Public Service, Grace Mary Mugasa.

“I want to thank President Museveni for choosing to rename the airport in Hoima to Kabalega International Airport, Hoima. This comes at a time when we are celebrating 100 years of Omukama Kabalega,” Mugasa tweeted.

“The oil and gas-based industrial park in Hoima district will also be named after the Great Omukama Kabalega. Thank you, President Museveni, for this great choice. Bunyoro stands firm with history.”

Kabalega

The renaming will come as Bunyoro celebrates 100 years since the death of Kabalega in 1923, who led the Bunyoro kingdom between 1870 and 1899.

Kabalega was the first leader in Uganda to command his people to oppose and fight European colonialism.

In 1872, in Masindi, Kabalega’s army encountered Sir Samuel Baker’s troops that had crossed into his territory from Sudan, forcing them to flee north to retreat to Acholi and camp at Fort Patiko.

Kabalega was captured by the British in 1899 and forced into exile when put on a steamboat and taken to Port Kisumu, Kenya, from where he was taken to Mont Plaisir, Marjorie prison, and later to the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.

About the airport

Kabaale International Airport in Hoima is currently under construction by Israeli-British firms, Shikun and Binui International (SBI/Colas Limited), and the construction works that started in 2018 are expected to be completed later this year.

The airport will have a 3500-meter-long and 45-meter-wide runway, a passenger terminal, and associated facilities to support operations of cargo and passenger aircraft.

Source: Nile Post