Kitagata hot springs, a once treasured tourist attraction faces extinction and in three years it will be no more.
The hot springs remind the residents and Ugandans as a whole of golden days when hundreds of local and international tourists flocked the area to catch a glimpse of “natural boiling water” and take a bathe.
The springs according, to residents had natural healing power and thus patients with body infections would swim through the waters every morning and evening while others prepared tea, porridge and boiled eggs for breakfast using same water.
The springs had sections: warm for bathing and hot for making tea. All this no more!
The former crystal clear waters of Kitagata have since turned into crude oil like because it is clogged and no longer flashes to the nearby swamp.
The blockade according to residents happened following massive floods from the nearby river stream Sebanga.
“The floods almost covered the entire springs and you could hardly access the water,” said a resident.
The residents blame government for neglecting this treasured resource and thus falling into the hands of needy local communities, that can do nothing to revamp the springs apart from watching it die away.
Kitagata had two streams namely; Mulago named after Uganda’s biggest Referral Hospital Mulago due to its healing powers and Ekyomugabe which was used by the then King of Ankore known as ‘Omugabe’.
Other residents this website spoke to said, government rejected their request to allow them develop the springs at their own cost.
There is a need to get excavators to open the blocked waterways for the stream so that even if it rains, water won’t be able to flood into the hot springs.
But shockingly, Minister Ephraim Kamuntu is the area MP and at a time when the floods hit the springs he was the minister of Tourism. Resident says they raised concerns but fell on deaf ears of Kamuntu.
Due to blocked exit, the water temperature has slowly reduced from around 98 degrees to at around 60 degrees due to interference of the nearby stream.
And despite earning government millions of money in tourism, the government has openly neglected the most amazing natural wonders in the world.
The two hot springs are now shadows of former self, it is so unfortunate to ignore such tourism potential.
Despite tarmacking of the nearby Highway Kagamba-Ishaka Road nothing has increased on the springs side due to the poor state.
On top of that, there is poor signage indicating location of the hot springs and most people miss out on them and find themselves already past the place.
When contacted, Ms Lilly Ajarova, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB) said developing Kitagata hot springs is still on the agenda pending government funding.
Hon. Godfrey Kiwanda, the Minister of State for Tourism when contacted declined to comment on the matter.
Background of Kitagata Hot Springs
The springs were first discovered in 1904 by a hunter and they are formed due to water heating from the Earth’s bowels and emerging through the Earth’s crust. This can be termed as an active volcano.
The hot springs are located on the Ishaka–Kagamba Road, in Sheema South County, in Sheema District, Western Uganda.
This location is approximately 2 kilometres (1 mile) by road, southeast of the town of Kitagata, one of the urban centers in the district. This location lies approximately 62 kilometres (39 miles) by road, west of Mbarara, the largest city in the sub-region.
The coordinates of Kitagata Hot Springs are 0°40’42.0″S, 30°09’38.0″E (Latitude:-0.678346; Longitude:30.160556).
On arrival to the site one will notice semi-nude men and women bathing in the warm waters of the springs, that possess healing powers.
Many area residents bathe in the waters as well as thousands from across the country and as far as outside Uganda.
Days like Saturday and Sunday, you can find as many as 500 people showering the miraculous water.
The water in the springs used to warm up to above 80 °C (176 °F) but of recent it’s going down.
The road to this place is still a marrum and before or after Ngaromwenda bridge depending on which direction you are coming from.