On 9th October 1962, the Union Jack came down, and the Uganda flag was hoisted. It has been 64 years of the Uganda flag flying high and crafting beautiful memories.
Ask a visitor what they remember most about Uganda, and they will begin with the gorillas or the Nile, wonderful as both are; they will tell you a lot more about the people.
The guide who read the forest like a favourite book, the rider who delivered them safely with a joke thrown in for free, the woman at the roadside market who pressed a second mango into their hands “for the journey,” the host who learned their name on the first evening and used it every morning after.
This is the secret we have been keeping for 64 years. Mountains can be matched elsewhere, and waterfalls can be photographed anywhere, but a welcome like ours, quick to laugh and slow to let a stranger stay a stranger, cannot be copied or imported.
Our people are not just the backdrop to Uganda’s tourism; they are everything. Uganda is a gem that Ugandans too should enjoy. Independence gave us the freedom to move through our own land and call all of it home.
Yet not many Ugandans remember the last time they took a trip to enjoy the many attractions out there. When did you last watch the sun rise at the Source of the Nile, wake to mist over Lake Bunyonyi, chase the Sipi Falls or listen to the silence of Kidepo at dusk?
These places were not handed down to us to be admired only on other people’s postcards. It is our duty as Ugandans to promote domestic tourism. When a family spends a long weekend in Fort Portal or Jinja, the money stays home.
It pays the guide, fills the lodge, supports the craft seller and the farmer who supplies the kitchen, and somewhere down the line it becomes a child’s school fees. Your holiday is someone’s livelihood, and a nation that travels is one that believes in itself.
As we celebrate this year’s Independence Day, there are two major events I invite you all to prepare for. In February 2027, Kampala will host the Future Hospitality Summit Africa for the first time, bringing investors, hotel developers and operators to see what Uganda has to offer.
In June and July 2027 Uganda will co- host the Africa Cup of Nations with Kenya and Tanzania. The entire continent will be here to fill up the stadiums, streets and dining tables.
We should not be left out. It is our turn to make things happen. Investors will build the rooms and football will bring the crowds, but only Ugandans can fill those rooms and those crowds with the welcome that turns a visitor into a friend for life.
So let us prepare now, let us be tourists in our own country, learn our stories well enough to tell them, and show each other the kindness we hope the world will meet. To the guides, drivers, hoteliers, artisans, cooks and hosts who carry Uganda’s name every day, thank you, because you are the reason people return.
To every Ugandan, this Independence Day, make a promise before 9th October comes round again, take one trip you have never taken, bring someone along, and tell the story with #ExploreUganda.
Our Board has recorded a personal Independence Day message for the nation, and I invite you to watch and share it.
Happy 64th Independence Day, Uganda.
The author is the Chief Executive Officer, Uganda Tourism Board