Naked for Murchison
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Elie Wiesel. Amos Wekesa , a veteran in the Ugandan hospitality sector sent shock waves when he threatened to strip naked in protest of the planned giveaway of Murchison falls, a top tourist destination, to a South African company that plans to establish a 360 megawatt hydropower dam. The falls are situated in Murchison falls National Park ( IUCN category II protected area ) named after Sir Roderich Murchison, former president of Royal Geographical Society. The seven-meter wide and forty-three meter high falls is a tourist hotspot because, at this spot, the Nile explodes through a narrow gorge at 300m 3 per second, earning the reputation of the most fierce point on the world's longest river. Thereafter, it cascades down to become a placid river whose banks are thronged by hippos, crocodiles, and buffaloes before flowing westwar...