Parliament has revoked the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Center Act, 2015 to pave the way for the merger of UWEC with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
The House also amended the UWA Act, 2019 to confer on the Authority additional functions because of the merger with UWEC.
Parliament was Wednesday considering the Uganda Wildlife (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre Act (Repeal) Bill, 2024.
The two bills seek to functionalise the merger of UWEC and UWA.
Tom Butime, Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities defended the merger of the two tourism entities.
“The role of UWEC and UWA are complementary. One substituting the other is a mere consolidation but the roles remain the same,” he said.
According to Parliament’s Tourism Committee, the merger of the two agencies will see 64 staff lose their jobs, while Shs1.334Bn will be paid in terminal benefits to the affected staff.
According to the report of the committee on trade, the merger will see Government save Shs15.166Bn in 2024/25, while the savings will increase further to Shs16.5Bn in in the FY 2024/2025.
UWEC has the mandate to breed species that are at risk of extinction in the wild. This role enables the entity to build a healthy animal population as a backup for endangered species.
UWA implements diverse strategies to conserve and sustainably manage wildlife. They include community participation in wildlife management; revenue sharing; collaborative management; problem animal management; wildlife use rights; and conservation education and awareness.