UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa – Prof. Hubert Gijzen visited Royal Tombs of Buganda Kingdom at Kasubi 24th/ 02/2021 and applauded the ongoing restoration works at the Tombs. The tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi inscribed on UNESCO world Heritage sites in 2001, four royal tombs now lie within Muzibu Azaala Mpanga, the main building, which is a master piece of Ganda Traditional Architecture and its main significance lies in its tangible as well as intangible values of. Unfortunately, in March 2010, Fire almost completely destroyed the Muzibu Azaala Mpanga building.
During the guided tour of the Tombs, Prof. Hubert emphasized that it takes a lot of time, patience, precision and attention to details during reconstruction to achieve the ultimate goal of preserving both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Buganda Kingdom
“Let us ensure that we learn from this disaster and from the reconstruction process. It has been a learning process. I hope the entire rehabilitation and reconstruction process has been documented. I will ask my team in UNESCO to support you in developing a very high-quality documentary that tells the story of the rehabilitation and reconstruction so that knowledge is passed on,”- Prof. Hubert Gijzen
The Buganda Minister for Tourism Owekitibwa David Kyewalabye Male, while addressing the stakeholders at the site in Kasubi stated that reconstruction process of the tombs would have been a very simple task had it not been for the complex cultural intricacies associated with each of huts gutted by fire. He further assured the stakeholders that the reconstruction of the tombs will be concluded before the end of the year (2022) adding that the process has now reached the thatching stage.
He however stated that as the reconstruction process of the tombs (Muzibu-Azaalampanga) progresses towards its conclusion, there’s urgent need to expedite the installation process of the permanent firefighting systems at the site which is already at the procurement stage to avert the major threat of another fire disaster, whose implication he stated would result in ruining all that have done in the last decade. He therefore called for wider stakeholder collaboration so as to galvanize the efforts of making the site the number one tourist destination in the region
“The intangible and tangible cultural heritage, identity and believes required utmost attention to values during the reconstruction process that make them evidently unique from any grass thatch house anywhere in the world. We have ensured maximum respect to those values by going as far as undoing and redoing some restoration process.” – Mr. David Kyewalabye Male
On the guided tour, the UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa was accompanied by the Secretary General of Uganda National Commission for UNESCO Ms. Rosie Agoi, UNESCO Kampala Project Office Head, Mr. Charles Draecabo, the Commissioner of Uganda Museum and Monuments Ms. Rose Mwanja Nkaale and other key officials from the Buganda Kingdom.