Uganda Monuments
Independence Monument a symbol of History
Uganda Monuments : This is the must see if you are in Kampala city tour, it stands majestically at the height of 6meres. This monument signifies something to the Nation or to a particular group or community. The monument is situated in the heart of the capital between the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, Grand Imperial Hotel and Stan-Chart Bank is one of the most distinctive landmarks in Uganda.
The independence monument was erected a few months prior October 9th 1962 event, with much of our independence history holed up in the archives it is one of the most outstanding relics of Uganda freedom from bondage of colonialism. It was made from cement, sand, iron bars and wire mesh. This design was from Gregory Maloba a Luhya sculptor from Kenya who studied and taught art at Makerere University from 1939-1965.
The woman with a wrapping all over her body pensively looks at the little boy directly in her hands raises him in triumph. The child seemingly beckons the sky in triumphant jubilation and its mother ponders the future. This is the story of Uganda’s independence told through Art.
This project came at a time when Makerere university has just gained its stature as the leading art school in East Africa. For its historic importance, the monument is still an abstract concept in the minds of many Ugandans.
Fort Patiko: The Fort of death
Fort Patiko is a structure built to stop slave trade from Northern Uganda and southern Sudan which had become an in salve trade and Ocecu became the place for sorting. It is found in Gulu district and this Fort has many histories attached which can increase Safari in Uganda.
Fort Patiko is most times called Fort Baker or Baker’s Fort because it was constructed by early explorers led by Sir Samuel Baker as a Military Fort. It is 2kms from Ocecu Hill commonly known as Got Ajulu meaning Mountain/Rock or to raise.
The construction of the Fort was completed on December 25 1872 and after Baker leaving in 1888, the fort was used by Emin Pasha and Charles Gordon while serving as Governors of the Equatorial Province of the British Uganda Protectorate. A plaque on the remaining wall of a grain storage building in the center of the fort reads “Fatiko 1872 -88, founded by Sir Samuel Baker, occupied by Emin and Gordon”
The pits which measure 16feet in depth and 16feet in width were dug to make it impossible for slaves to escape from the Fort in case they beat its tough security deployment. It was built on a low rocky hill and so the Arab architects saw no need to cement the floor and the roof was made of grass thatch so the houses enjoy a chill shade whose temperatures compares to that of the day’s first class air conditioned suites.
Adjacent to these houses are two towering rocks at whose base there are dug-out caves that used to house the slaves, however unlike the slave trader’s houses which were spacious and well ventilated. The caves were always jammed to capacity because accommodation was not enough for the hundreds of hostages.
Tales of death
The slaves would be assembled at the fort’s sloppy compound where the beautiful, healthy and Muscular ones would be separated from the ugly, sick, weak and skinny. The selected lucky ones would be dispatched for the Egypt and Sudan slave markets where they would be sold be sold off like goods and the unfortunate rejects who could not fetch high prices on the market would be executed by firing squad the open torture chambers.
They could not set them free since the Traders feared that they would mobilize the local communities to fight off their cold – blooded Arab traders and after the slaves were killed, their corpses were never given a decent burial but just dumped in the pits surrounding the fort where the Vultures would finish the Job.
Over there on the compound, you can observe sharp cuts on the rocks which were sliced by the axes used to behead the slaves but again the lucky ones who survived the axe were made to work like donkeys yet fed on little food.
By the 1840s, it was impossible to maintain a deaf ear to cries against slavery and around this time a savior in the names of Sir Samuel Baker an Abolitionist Adventurer and representative of the Egyptian Khedive arrived in Acholi land. With his band of Nubian fighters, he fought off slave trader from the Fort around 1870 and took it over as a station base for his campaign of dealing in Ivory.
Attractions at Patiko
There is a range of attraction at Patiko, Fort Patiko is beautiful from end to end with amazing scenery which offers a great photography, rocks that were made to curve into models of different creatures such as the map of Africa, Lake Victoria, sharks and human heads. It also has antiquities such as the grinding stones for millet grinding and inscriptions of the Holy Cross on the rocks.
The natural and attractive scenery of Fort Baker offers a chance to feel part of its history. Visit Fort Patiko with us today. we shall draft for you an appropriate itinerary then assign for you knowledgeable guides who won’t leave any relevant chapter of its history uncovered.
The Equator at Kayabwe in Uganda
This has become a worldly landmark and a die-heart for all looking out to experience or witness the equator by the taking memorable photos. This small town on Masaka – Mbarara high way called Kayabwe is a regular and recommended stop over for all tourists going to the Western part of the country and those on the way back to Kampala or Entebbe.
This is an overwhelming experience in the Uganda safari because it’s only the Equator line notionally drawn on the earth equidistant from the poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°. There are experiments that will remain twinkling your mind like a magnetic needle has no dip and stabilizes inn perfect horizontal position, and the movement and drainage of the water will differ from the Northern and the Southern hemispheres at the carioles effects.
The Equator is located in Kayabwe, Mpigi District 73kms from Kampala the capital city of Uganda, the monument is seen that is written UGANDA EQUATOR and also in South West Uganda you will be able to locate markers of the Equator in Kasese District within Queen Elizabeth National Park.
You will experience warm temperatures while at the Equator as you stand in the middle of the two hemispheres. One becomes 3% lighter while at the Equator line and this is how it comes about according scientists; anyone’s weight will be less by 0.5% thus gravity is 0.5% less at the Equator. This is inclined to the Earth not being a perfect sphere because at the poles its flattened so you become few tons of kilometers away from the center of the Earth while standing at the Equator unlike standing at the poles.
It is quite an exceptional experience at the equator; remember to carry a souvenir for your family and friends on your way back. A number of structures have been set up around the area of the equator with so many amazing crafts and art pieces from the craft shops. You will get yourself a number of products from the gallery antique and the Aid child gallery. You will find T shirts with expressions like ‘I have crossed the equator’ get one for yourself and friends. You will also be able to enjoy a tasty meal and coffee at one of the restaurants there.
The Barlonyo Massacre
Twenty-six kilometers north of Lira town in northern Uganda, a quiet displaced person’s camp called Barlonyo lies inconspicuously next to the River Moroto. The tranquil setting belies its horrible distinction as the location of one of the largest single massacres committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army during its 23-year insurgency. In the space of less than three hours on the late afternoon of 21 February 2004, over 300 people were brutally murdered by LRA rebels and an unknown number were abducted.
Camp residents were burned alive inside their huts, hacked to death with machetes, stabbed with bayonets, clubbed with sticks and shot as they fled. The bellies of pregnant women were slit open, their not-yet-formed babies thrown into the fires. Others were abducted and marched north into Acholi-land. Many died in captivity of violence, sickness, or starvation. The ultimate fate of several abductees remains unknown.
Hundreds of the LRA war victims matched at Barlonyo refugee camp in Barlonyo village in Lira district. It’s a massacre memorial site where 301 people were buried and a post-conflict community where victims and survivors of the war continue to search for Justice.
Rehabilitation of the victims of the Barlonyo Massacre; Government has built a sh1.5bn vocational school where victims of Barlonyo can educate children and those who at the were not born.
The Barlonyo Massacre Monument has also become a tourism destination in Northern, add this on your Uganda Safari to Kidepo National Park.
