Ugandan President assures tourists of safety after rescue of U.S visitor

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni on Monday assured tourists of their safety in Uganda, noting that the security in national parks will be enhanced.

The president tweeted that tourists should come and enjoy the beauty of the east African country.

“We shall deal with these isolated pockets of criminals.

“However, I want to reassure the country and our tourists that Uganda is safe and we shall continue to improve
the security in our parks. Come and enjoy the Pearl of Africa,’’ said Museveni.

The president’s comments came a day after security forces in the country rescued a U.S. tourist called Kimberly Sue
Endicott and her tour guide, Jean-Paul Mirenge.

The two were kidnapped by unknown gunmen April 2, at Queen Elizabeth National Park in the western part of the country,
and according to the police, the kidnappers had asked for a ransom of 500,000 U.S. dollars.

Experts expressed fears that the incident would hurt the country’s tourism industry.

The country earns about 1.5 billion dollars annually from tourism and the figure is expected to double by 2020.

(Xinhua/NAN)