In 2003 the boy king of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru, visited Kamwenge district. To applause and ululations, the Omukama and his mother, Best Kemigisa, the Omukama broke ground for the construction of the first public library in Kamwenge.
However six years later there is no library and the ground breaking site is a bush.
The Kamwenge public library is a project of the Tooro Kingdom. During the ground breaking ceremony, Best Kemigisa said the kingdom had acquired textbooks worth 500,000 shillings for the library. She said the government of Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi promised additional support to build and stock the library.
Shortly after the ground breaking ceremony construction of the library begun, the district public accounts committee ordered for its demolition. It said the work done was sub-standard and would pose a threat to users once completed.
William Nyakatura, Prime Minister of Tooro, says the kingdom does not have the 100 million shillings needed to rebuild the library. He says the kingdom is facing a financial crisis and has to prioritize the funding of its projects.
Nyakatura says the Tooro Kingdom still longs to provide the people of Kamwenge with a public library and is hopeful that construction will take place as soon as the crisis ends.
Without their own public library, people in Kamwenge are forced to travel many miles to Kabarole and Mbarara to borrow books and use research and reference material.
The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Kamwenge, John Nuwagaba, says the district does not have money to build its own library. He says an independent person or group is being sourced to invest in the project.
