Oyo woos Diaspora Batooro

The Omukama (king) of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, has rallied the people living in the diaspora to pattern with the kingdom to implement the cultural institution’s 25-year development plan, which he launched in September 2021 during his 26th coronation anniversary.

King Oyo made the remarks on Saturday while addressing members of the Tooro UK Association who had invited him to grace this year’s Empaako Festival in London.

“I know people in the diaspora do a lot and back home support the wellbeing of people and development of the people and I wish to rally all of you to create more roots back home,” he said.

“As Tooro, I pledge that we shall support and embrace your initiatives and projects that you bring back home as either individuals or partners with the kingdom,” he added.

The cultural leader emphasised that the 25-year development plan provides strategic direction to guide the kingdom’s priorities in the coming years and among the strategic areas in the plan is agriculture, with the kingdom setting up demonstration farms to train youth and farmers on modern farming methods.

“We intend to roll out this programme in all counties of the kingdom [nine counties], we have also embarked on a campaign to encourage more coffee production in the kingdom and we are distributing coffee seedlings to organised groups of farmers,” he said. To support this initiative, he said the kingdom is setting up coffee nursery beds to ensure seedlings are always available to farmers. Additionally, they are establishing coffee silos to stabilise the market for coffee farmers in and around the kingdom.

“We are encouraging our coffee farmers to bring their coffee in one place to help establish a stable market internationally and I, therefore, call upon you and all friends of Tooro to interest yourself in this critical venture,” he explained.

The king also announced that the kingdom has embarked on a campaign to promote tourism by establishing hospitality training centres in Tooro. He also mentioned other initiatives such as Ekyooto ha Mpango as another means of promoting tourism and culture.

“The global tourism market size was valued at $30 billion in 2023. With proper planning and deliberate efforts, we believe Tooro can tap into this. Cultural tourism refers to a form of tourism that focuses on experiencing and understanding the cultural heritage, traditions, history, arts, and lifestyle of a particular destination,” King Oyo explained.

He urged the Batooro in the diaspora and other partners to collaborate with the kingdom in implementing projects such as hotels and an airport, as well as developing cultural sites like royal tombs.

King Oyo stated that they are implementing programmes that supplement government efforts to improve the health of the people. These include organising surgical camps, HIV/Aids camps, and sports campaigns.

The chairperson of Tooro UK Association, Mr Drake Gahwerrah Mugisa, said they seek to provide recreational and rehabilitative facilities to those with different needs because of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, or social and economic circumstances.