Uganda wildlife education centre plans first floating restaurant in East Africa

The first phase of the Shs5 billion Uganda Wildlife project is expected to be complete by September.

The idea of a restaurant on water may, for many, have been a thought for Uganda@100 but no, by September this year, the first phase of this high-end, luxurious facility will be complete.

This is after the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre announced plans to build the restaurant on Lake Victoria, as well as develop a multi-purpose white sand beach on the lake shores. The both shut-eye and eye-popping development will be the first “floating” restaurant in East Africa, according to the Uganda wildlife education centre’s executive director, Mr. James Musinguzi.

Officiating at the restaurant’s ground breaking ceremony in Entebbe last Friday, the Minister for Tourism, Ms Maria Mutagamba, said the project, to be executed in three phases, would cost Shs5 billion.

“I am aware that under the National Development Plan, the Pier Restaurant and Beach Development project is one of the anticipated outputs of the ministry. Therefore, the ministry pledges continuous support to Uganda wildlife education centre but more specifically this project because the government is keen to see it take off,” Ms Mutagamba said.

The whole project is expected to be concluded within two years, according to Mr. Joel Aita, an engineer from Joadah Consults, the company that made the plan of the facility, which will be called Pier Restaurant. The restaurant’s foundation was laid in 2007 and government has so far contributed Shs615 million.

To address the unpredictability that often comes with construction on water, the Ministry of Works carried out a series of surveys.

“Our design was adequate but you can’t gamble on nature so we needed a series of tests and the results were impressive,” Mr. Aita said, adding: “We needed concrete strength of C30 to be safe here but the Ministry of Works found that our structure was C40 which means we exceeded the standard.”

The restaurant will be divided into four floors, with the first one housing the main restaurant, the second housing 16 rooms while the top floors will be multi-purpose. The restaurant will have a docking area for boats going to various destinations on L. Victoria.