A Tourist and her Guide are Kidnapped in Queen Elizabeth National Park

A Female Tourist and her Guide are Kidnapped in Queen Elizabeth National Park

Queen Elizabeth National Park is generally regarded as a safe tourist destination, and the most-visited national park in Uganda, with safaris offering then visitor to see the opportunities like the tree-climbing lions, herds of buffalo, elephants and hippos. But the National Park also shares a porous, forested border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a number of rebel groups and lawlessness are known to be active. Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park shares a porous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel and criminal groups are active. Kidnappings of tourists are rare in Uganda but they’re becoming more popular because of the instability in the DRC which boarders Uganda and part of the Queen Elizabeth National.

While on a tour guide of the Queen Elizabeth National Park a popular tourist destination in Uganda on Tuesday evening, an American woman and a local guide were kidnapped   by unknown gunmen who have demanded a $500,000 ransom, according to police.

The kidnapped woman was identified as Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35 from Los Angeles. The TV stations quoted friends and neighbors, who identified her as Kimberly Sue Endicott, from Costa Mesa in California in the USA.

According to the Uganda Police Force she was on a sightseeing tour around Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park on Tuesday evening, along with a senior guide and an elderly tourist couple when they were ambushed by four gun wielding men. The Police said she and the guide, who was identified as Jean Paul Mirenge Remezo, were then taken hostage leaving the two remaining elderly tourist couples to raise an alarm to the Ugandan authorities.

What is the motive for the kidnap?

Kidnapping is becoming more viable and with this case, the speed at which the kidnappers demanded the ransom has got to be taken into account when looking at the motivations of the kidnappers. And in this case the speed at which the $500,000 ransom was demanded using the American victim’s cell phone indicates that the crime has an economic motive according to experts. The kidnappings are becoming more and more popular as a way of eking out as much financial gain as possible from the tourism sector. And this trend is driven by poverty in the region because in North Kivu, a province of Democratic Republic of Congo bordering the Queen Elizabeth National Park, GDP per capita has barely risen.

How safe is Uganda for tourists?

Uganda is a safe tourist destination according to most tourists who have visited the country, and they go ahead with their activities without incident, authorities say. The Ugandan police say that the kidnapping was the first incident of this kind ever registered in the park since its inauguration. The killings of tourists are not unprecedented in Uganda. But the Ugandan government is extra sensitive to perception that it cannot protect international visitors which is a vital source of hard currency

According to the State Department advisory to its tourists, it tells them to “reconsider travel” to Congo, however North Kivu, the Congolese state bordering the Queen Elizabeth National Park, is singled out as a location which tourists should avoid due to severe outbreaks of violence targeting civilians.

Uganda on average received some 1.4 million visitors in 2017 of which about 78,000 of them where from the Americas, according to the World Tourism Organization.