The State Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives In charge of Industries who is also the Ndorwa West MP David Bahati has commended Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) and 27 other Ugandan companies for donating a boat that will be used by children attending classes at Bwama Primary School in Kabale district.
Bahati presided over the handover of the motor boat by Uganda Revenue Authority at Bunyonyi Safaris Resort Hotel at Bunyonyi lake in Ndorwa West ,Kabale district.
Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) together with 27 companies donated a motorboat and 70 life jackets worth 115 million shillings to Bwama Island primary school in Kitumba Sub County, Kabale district, in order to ensure safety of learners travelling on one of Uganda’s deepest Lake Bunyonyi.
Some of the other companies that contributed included Stanbic Bank Uganda, Uganda Baati limited, Bunyonyi Safaris Resort, Toyota Uganda, Diamond Trust Bank, Total Uganda Limited, National Drugs Authority, Steel and Tube industries limited, Standard chartered bank, Kargo International limited among others. Mr.Bahai also contributed 10 million shillings for maintaining the motorboat which URA donated. He however said that the government has already secured a total of 98 million US dollars for purchasing two ferries to Lake Bunyonyi and tarmac Kabale-Bunyonyi road.
Speaking at the handover of the boat and life jackets at Bunyonyi Safaris Resort, the URA Commissioner General Mr. John Rujoki Musinguzi said that they decided to raise funds for the boat after media reports showed vulnerable children crossing the lake in dangerous -rickety -canoes in order to access their school.
Musinguzi said that URA sought partnership with 27 other companies, through a charity football match tournament dubbed the URA tax derby in October 2019, where they raised a tune of 74 million shillings, to which URA topped up with UGX 41 million shillings, as part of URA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, in order to ease the education journey of tomorrow’s leaders and taxpayers.
The head teacher of Bwama primary school Robert Kanyoma said that the school which is a government aided primary school with an enrollment of 312 learners lost a pupil in 2018 after drowning while others survived because they knew how to swim. He added that they have been recently getting assistance of motor boats from Global Livingston Institution and Bulamu Community foundation and Nicky’s care for Africa to transport learners free of charge.
