The Ruparelia Group, who through M/S Speke Hotel (1996) Limited is constructing the Speke Resort and Convention Centre, Entebbe has denied that they are encroaching on Lake Victoria, insisting that the area being developed is part of the original project area that was cleared by NEMA.
In a press conference held in Entebbe on Friday, December 10th, Rajiv Ruparelia, the Managing Director of the Group said that the project is within the acceptable confines of the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and the group has Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate, issued by NEMA for the project.
“The video alleging, we are filling part of the lake with soil is not true,” Rajiv said during a press conference held at Kitubulu.
“When you take a look at our title, we have not entered even an inch into the lake. In fact, the lake ate into our acreage that we had at the time of purchasing this land but we won’t extend it,” Rajiv said.
The National Environmental Management Agency (NEMA) in a December 9th, 2021, Press Statement said that they had closed the project site, following a public outcry on social media about the development. The video circulated on social media, showed trucks dumping murram at the project site at Kitubulu formerly Ssese Gateway beach, located in Katabi Town Council, Entebbe.
It shall be remembered that Lake Victoria waters rose to unprecedented levels reaching 13.45 metres on May 13th 2020, surpassing the 13.41-meter mark last recorded in 1964. However, the Group acquired the land for the project before 2019 and went on to unveil plans for the resort in 2019. Soon after, water levels went up, delaying the project.
However, as of December 2021, the lake waters had receded to 12.83 metres and continue to recede further.
At the press conference, Rajiv said that with the water levels receding, the project has resumed, starting with the raising and securing of the project site with murram- but this is being done within the confines of the original project land.
The Group said that the ground levelling was being done to pave the ground for the USD100 million and 350-room Speke Resort and Convention Centre. The resort will also have a marina for 50 boats, 4 restaurants and a carrying capacity of 3,500 persons. The facility will also have conference facilities, with the largest hosting up to 1,500 persons, 3 wedding grounds and parking space for 1500 cars.
NEMA issued a 99-year-long certificate dated July 17 to Speke Resort Convention Centre Entebbe clearing the use of the 15 acres of land at Kitubulu, Katabi Town Council Entebbe.
When it is completed, it will be a beautiful addition to the Ruparelia Group’s portfolio of luxury and budget hospitality facilities that include Speke Resort and Conference Centre, Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Kabira Country Club, Speke Hotel, Dolphin Suites, Tourist Hotel, Forest Cottages and the recently expanded Speke Apartments.
Strategic investment for Uganda’s tourism sector
Soon after the project’s unveiling in 2019, several tourism stakeholders, hailed the project as a strategic and game-chaning investment for the industry.
In an interview with this news site then, Ms Jean Byamugisha the Executive Director of the Uganda Hotel Owners Association (UHOA) said that the project would create strategic support to the industry’s job-creating and skills transfer efforts, as well as create variety for guests and further stimulate the budding Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions (MICE).
“We in the tourism sector are trying to position Uganda as the meetings capital of Africa…Our biggest challenge has always been the space where to accommodate the delegates. This hotel will be strategically positioned to host big conferences without interfering with the hustle and bustle of Kampala. Entebbe needs a convention centre of this class and magnitude,” said Ms Byamugisha.
Irene Mwoyogwona: Beyond the Numbers – How Pride Bank's Award-Winning CFO Combines Profitability and Social Impact“This will grow the economy of Entebbe and boost its quest to become the second city in Uganda. We need many more 5 star establishments to favourably compete with our neighbours in Nairobi and Kigali as the MICE destination of choice in East and Central Africa,” she added.
“That is a fantastic facility that they are going to put up. Entebbe has been lacking a 5-star hotel with a marina and conferencing facilities. The development of a marina is an additional plus because the truth is that Uganda’s waters, especially Lake Victoria have not been exploited,” Amos Wekesa, the Managing Director and founder of Great Lakes Safaris and Uganda Lodges, told this reporter in a phone interview then.
He also said that the project will bring “real value to Entebbe” as well as greatly stimulate MICE.
“Imagine you are having a conference; guests can in the evening relax and have some sundowners, then tour islands like the Koome Islands which are not far from Entebbe. What else would you need in Entebbe?”
Wekesa also said that the facility would improve on the quantity of high quality facilities in Uganda, which overall improves the competitiveness of Destination Uganda.
“What is happening is that everyone has been scrambling, trying to turn their houses into accommodation but we have got to scale up. When facilities like this (Speke Resort and Convention Centre, Entebbe) come up, everyone is inspired to scale up. The competition encourages us to get better- in life and every business, there has got to be a trailblazer; that Ruparelia Group project in Entebbe will be a trailblazer, in my opinion,” he said.
Wekesa said that the Ugandan tourism sector is lacking large scale high-end investments capable of handling large groups of high-end tourists paying more than USD 6,000.
“The hotels were are seeing are partially in Kampala, Jinja and Entebbe. Most of the few high-end hotels we have are all fully taken up. Like in the coming week I have a conference of 150 people coming and have had to share the guests between Munyonyo and Serena Lake Victoria,” he said.
“We are looking for standards- what we have are people putting up a lot of hotels, but many of the facilities e.g. showers don’t work well and the service is not yet there. So as operators, you know that if I put my clients in Hotel X, there are not going to get good standards; there are 2 things that clients want most- very nice toilet facilities and very good food— a good shower and good meal.
According to UHOA, by end of 2018, there was an estimated 6,000 accommodation facilities in Uganda offering about 487,000 beds and 410,000 rooms.
“Kenya has 800,000 rooms combined. For us to attract the MICE market we should be pushing for at least 1,000,000 rooms countrywide. This is a long away from being a reality but it’s the only way we can be competitive as a market,” she said, at the time, adding that “this, of course, goes hand in hand with other infrastructure like a national carrier, second and hopefully third international airport, local domestic flights that are affordable as well as a good road network.”
Low presence of international branded hotel operators is one of Destination Uganda’s weaknesses. As of June 2019 only 4 international hotel chains were operating in Uganda i.e. Marriott International Group (Sheraton Hotel and Protea Hotel brands); Louvre Hotels Group (Golden Tulip Canaan brand); and Hilton Garden Inn and Latitude 0˚. According to the Knight Frank report the top 10 African countries with branded chains of hotels are: South Africa 9430), Egypt (300), Morocco (153), Tunisia (103), Kenya (68), Mauritius (60),
Nigeria (58), Tanzania (46), Zimbabwe (31) and Algeria has 28 chains. Uganda doesn’t even feature amongst the top 15.
