Rubanda District LC.5 Chairman Ampeire Stephen Kasyaba has condemned NGOs operating in Batwa-inhabited areas for exploiting the marginalized community. Kasyaba issued the warning while addressing the 2026/2027 District Budget Conference, urging NGOs to promote Batwa culture and support the commercialization of their art and crafts rather than exploiting their vulnerability .
Amos Tugumisirize, Executive Director of KADOLHA, confirmed that some NGOs parade Batwa members to dance for tourists, providing minimal food and drinks. He attributed the practice to persistent poverty and lack of land among the Batwa .
“The Batwa don’t have sufficient land, and even the little land they have is not fertile. As a result, they have resorted to begging and dancing for tourists, which is killing their future,” Tugumisirize said .
The Batwa, traditionally nomadic hunter-gatherers, were displaced from forests across Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo following conservation policies in 1991. Today, they are forced to live on park outskirts, often working neighbors’ fields for minimal income. Despite high tourism revenue from mountain gorilla visits, their economic and social marginalization continues. Uganda’s Batwa population is estimated at 6,000, with 470 in Kigezi, highlighting the urgent need for interventions that empower this minority community .
