The Government will next week disburse sh2b to Buganda Kingdom to fund the reconstruction of the Kasubi tombs that were gutted by fire on March 16, 2010.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Buganda Kingdom

The Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, revealed this after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Buganda Kingdom at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Kampala.

“We delayed while harmonising issues between the Government, Buganda Kingdom and UNESCO in order to kick start the reconstruction of the tombs” Kamuntu added on Friday.

He said it was a big task to reconcile issues of reconstructing the tombs taking into consideration the intangible values of the kingdom, those of UNESCO and the Government.

Eng. JB Walusimbi, the prime minister of Buganda, signed on behalf of Buganda, while Ambassador Patrick Mugoya signed on behalf of the Central Government.

Kamuntu and the Secretary General of UNESCO, Augustine Okurut, Buganda and government officials were present to witness the signing ceremony.

Walusimbi said the reconstruction process would cost between sh5b to sh6b, adding that they were under pressure from the public who thought that reconstructing the tombs was taking too long. He said the tombs would be modernised without losing the original architecture.

By Darious Magara, The New Vision