Wildlife song Launched

Last Friday was a special one for tourism players – as UgandaWildlife Authority (UWA) unveiled a new conservation song, Follow Me To Uganda, at the Sheraton Kampala hotel.

The hotel’s Rwenzori ballroom had been deserving decorated for the evening – with benefiting dinner round tables.

The MCs of the night, comedians Tindi and Richard Tuwangye took to the floor at 8:30pm, pulling off their usual jokes.

But the audience, which comprised of tour operators, conservationists, Makerere University students of tourism, and the chairman of Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, Elly Karuhanga, among others, was not an easy one to crack.

Yet even the first performer, Howard, a Makerere University student of tourism using hip-hop to communicate to young people about tourism, wasn’t up to the task.

It was fast-rising vocalist Jemima and Joshua, who were backed up by a group of friends on the musical instruments, that put guests in the appropriate mood by taking us to South Africa with songs such as Jabulani and Ndihamba Nawe. This set the mood for the launch of Follow Me To Uganda.

The song, which opens the tube-fiddle (ndingindi), was done by pop singer Patrick Musasizi aka Chosen Blood. Chosen first hit chats in 2012 when he did Pressure Ya Love with Walden. The pressure of separating with Walden could have taken a stall on him, but certainly Follow Me To Uganda is a good comeback for him.

The song relays Uganda’sbeauty, right from your arrival point at Entebbe airport to the countryside such as the source of the Nile, the Equator on Masaka road and the national parks. The unveiling of the song started with its video, which was played on the project, before Chosen joined Jemima and her band to perform the song.

But before that, guests, who were either invited or paid Shs 1 million for a table, were treated to a sumptuous dinner, with all kinds of drinks flowing the entire night. UWA also used the occasion to award media houses, among which was The Observer newspaper, for their continued coverage of the tourism sector.