Uganda government has tasked Buganda kingdom to perform traditional rituals to ensure that Kasubi Tombs opens after 14 years of rehabilitation, this website has learnt.
The Kasubi Tombs in Kampala is the site of the burial ground for ( Buganda Kings) and other members of the Baganda royal family however it ranks among Uganda’s top tourist sites declared by UNESCO World Heritage in December 2001.
The site is the major spiritual centre for the Baganda where traditional and cultural practices have been preserved. The Kasubi Tombs are the most active religious place in the kingdom, where rituals are frequently performed.
Anthony Wamala, the kingdom’s minister of Heritage and Tourism in an interview told this website that the kingdom has been working tirelessly to restore the tombs to their traditional architecture and with the works now near completion, the kingdom hopes that the tombs will soon be removed from the endangered heritage list by UNESCO
Wamala confirms that most crucial works on the tombs are finished with just a few works still ongoing such as leveling the courtyard, making the floor inside the tombs, installing inner pillars, and bidding the reeds for the fence around the tombs.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included Kasubi tombs on llst of world heritages in danger after massive fire burn in 2010.
There are currently 55 sites in the world included on the list of world heritage in danger with Kasubi tombs being one of them.
“last year in June, officials from UNESCO inspected the tombs and made some recommendations on the work being done and we have worked on most of them. We therefore have high hopes that Kasubi tombs is going to be removed from the endangered heritage sites and listed back on the world heritage sites. If this happens, it will be a boost for Buganda’s tourism and Uganda at large,” Wamala said.
Embassy of Japan donated $560,000 (about Shs 2 billion) to install firefighting equipment around the tomb premises. These include smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, water hoses reels fire hydrants as well as training all the people who live within the tombs on how to use these equipment in case of a fire outbreak.
“Culture is one of the key pillars in cooperation between Japan and Uganda and between Japan and UNESCO to protect very important cultural heritage of Uganda and I am impressed with the work being done here and measures which have been put in place to prevent fires,” said Tomotaka Yoshimura, Deputy Head of mission at the Embassy of Japan in Uganda.
