The Brief:
Event – The Tusker-Lite Mountain Rwenzori Marathon
Date: September 3, 2022
Place: Kasese
Chief Organisers: Amos Wekesa and Robert Kabushenga
Sponsors – Tusker-Lite

There is much anticipation after the launch of the inaugural edition of the Tusker Lite Mt. Rwenzori Marathon due September 3rd 2022.

During it’s launch at the Margherita Hotel in Kasese, the organisers expressed their confidence that the initiative will boost Tourism in the region.

The Marathon will take place in Kasese, home of Mountain Rwenzori which is one of Uganda’s most treasured tourism sites.

Rwenzori, commonly refered to as the ‘Mountains of the Moon’ have struggled to attract a number of visitors despite it’s uniqueness.

Rwenzori is permanently snow-capped despite lying on the equator. It’s the highest Mountain in Uganda and third in Africa.

An Initiative of Wekesa, Kabushenga

The event, sponsored by Tusker-Lite, is an initiative of Amos Wekesa (founder, proprietor and managing director of Great Lakes Safaris Limited) Robert Kabushenga (Former Managing Director Vision Group).

“This country is poor, and you all heard the budget reading where we cannot support 100% of our recurrent budget, but we have many talkers and Uganda needs more than talk,” started Wekesa.

“But if there’s a country that God has blessed across all boarders is Uganda. But they you would ask why is Egypt making 5bn dollars from the Nile yet they have one flow of it, but we are the ones with the source and we could make more 6bn dollars from it.

“The Mountain (Rwenzori) that is behind us has a potential of a billion dollars a year if it’s well marketed.

“Kilimanjaro gets about 65000 climbers every year, and each has to pay 5000 dollars meaning that over 350m dollars is earned in the communities of Arusha and Moshi.

“But that Kilimanjaro is not even close to our Rwenzori. So us Ugandans, we must feel bad about ourselves. Rwenzori has 16 peaks and 4 are snow-capped. Imagine how much we would make, actually we would not need a national budget support.”

Wekesa added that Rwenzori is so technical that people who want to climb Himalayas (World’s highest mountain) have to first train at Rwenzori.

He added that they should create an activity at least every month that can attract thousands of people to Kasese and that will grow the economy in the region.

Kabushenga stated that he started on this ‘dream’ about five years ago before it was hampered by COVID and everything went on ice

Kabushenga added: “We thought that there is a big asset (Mountain Rwenzori) here which we can use, imagine having thousands of runners come to Kasese and what that will mean for the Economy here.”

“This Marathon gives many an opportunity to come and see one of Uganda’s most unique features. This terrain in Kasese is the most difficult in Uganda for runners because it’s at a high altitude so for all runners who love challenge, this is an ideal place.

“We are very happy that our colleagues from Tusker Lite have agreed to come and on board and if you have such people come and sponsor the event that alone means that it’s a credible event and it’s guaranteed. We shall deliver an excellent experience to the visitors. We are not in this as a one off but we are here for a long period.”

Kabushenga later tweeted: “We want to attract elite runners & ultra athletes. Rwenzori can make us a fortune the way Kilimanjaro & Everest do for their countries. Events like this can generate sustainable income that can change lives in this region & enable us to conserve the Rwenzoris for generations.”

Tusker-Lite Promises Fun-filled Event

A couple of activities make this Marathon a must fixture.

And these include hikes, bird watching, boat rides on the Kazinga channel and a musical concert.

“Runners love Tusker-Lite. It’s like water to them. It’s refreshing and with low calorie,” said Elizabeth Mutamuliza, Tusker-Lite Brand Manager.

“We don’t only share beer, we are also in the business of transforming lives and we are looking forward to be part of this. And committed to be part of this for a long time and throughout and grow this property and Kasese at large.

“We bring enjoyments, we are in business of celebrating lives everyday, expect massive party and Entertainment and a lot of beer.”

Local Leaders Elated

Ferigo Kambale who represents Kasese municipality in the 11th Parliament, commended the organisers for “waking us up” and predicted that the Marathon will go a long way in boosting the area.

“This will surely help us in promoting tourism in our area, The Fort Portal have been taking the most chances and we are happy to have one now.

“Kasese is a real tourism centre and many people should use this as an opportunity to come We have a lot of sites starting with the Queen Elizabeth in the neighborhood, we have hot springs before we move to the Rwenzori it’s self.

“We even delayed to organise such a Marathon but just like an Englisman says that better late than never, and here we are. This is a big achievement and we are going to do our best to see that it takes the shape it deserves.”

He reluctantly asked the organizers to give him credit for the event since it has been organised during his leadership.

The soft spoken Kambale assured Tusker-Lite that they have made the right investment because People of Kasese can drink “and you will be overwhelmed”.

LT. Maate Magwara, Deputy RDC Bukonzo, assured the Visitors of tight Security adding that “we take stock” of everything that happens at Rwenzori.

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