When Paul Mukumbya officially retires as Uganda’s Consul General in Mombasa, he
leaves behind more than a distinguished 31-year diplomatic career. He leaves a living
partnership, one that has reshaped how Uganda and Kenya collaborate on tourism,
proving that diplomacy, when anchored in people and private enterprise, can quietly
transform regional economies.
Mukumbya’s journey into diplomacy was not a childhood ambition but a path that
unfolded after university. Fluent in French, he began his career as a research assistant
with Uganda’s Constitutional Commission between 1991 and 1994, an experience that
introduced him early to public service and national policy-making. In November 1994,
he joined Uganda’s foreign service after a highly competitive recruitment process,
starting at the lowest rank of Third Secretary and steadily rising to Ambassador over
three decades.
His diplomatic postings reflect the breadth of his experience. In 2001, he was deployed
to Khartoum to help reopen Uganda’s mission in Sudan following the restoration of
diplomatic relations. Back in Kampala, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
including a formative stint as Personal Assistant to the Minister, a role that exposed him
to high-level global diplomacy. From 2011 to 2016, he opened Uganda’s Consulate in
Guangzhou, China, focusing on trade and commercial relations in one of the world’s
most dynamic economies. Later, as head of the Department of Regional Peace and
Security, he worked on stability issues across the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes
region.
Yet it was his 2021 posting to Mombasa that would define his legacy in an unexpected
way. Shifting from peace and security to economic and commercial diplomacy,
Mukumbya immersed himself in tourism—working closely with hoteliers, tour
operators, airlines, and destination marketers along Kenya’s Coast.
“What I found was a natural opportunity waiting to be structured: Ugandans already
loved the Kenyan Coast, choosing it for weddings, honeymoons, nightlife, shopping, and
sports tourism, while Kenyans were increasingly curious about Uganda’s wildlife,
landscapes, and adventure offerings. Seeing the two destinations increasingly connected
was one of the high points of my career,” he narrates.
Kenya is Uganda’s largest source market for tourism. In 2024 alone, more than 460,000
Kenyans visited Uganda, helped by eased travel arrangements such as the use of
national IDs and sustained joint marketing. Mukumbya understood that this flow could
be deepened not through government declarations alone, but by building trust and
familiarity within the private sector.
That vision gave birth to the Uganda–Kenya Coast Tourism Partnership,
operationalized through the Uganda–Kenya Conference, first held in 2022. What began
as a modest meeting of about 250 delegates has grown into a 500-delegate annual
gathering, drawing tour operators, hoteliers, travel agents, and tourism boards from
both countries. Central to the partnership have been familiarization trips, joint expos,
roadshows, and networking forums. Kenyan tour operators have been taken to
experience Uganda’s tourism products first-hand—gorilla trekking, chimpanzee
tracking, Murchison Falls, the River Nile—while Ugandan stakeholders have
benchmarked against Kenya’s more mature lodge, hotel, and coastal tourism
infrastructure.
“Once a tour operator knows the product they are selling, they sell it from their
experience,” Mukumbya notes, “and this boosts lodges and hotels on both sides.”
For Mukumbya, the partnership is built on complementarity rather than competition.
Kenya brings beaches, historical sites, sports tourism, and urban vibrancy; Uganda
brings primates, waterfalls, adventure tourism, and rich inland ecosystems. Marketed
together, these offerings encourage longer stays and higher spending.
“A tourist can experience the beach and then go on to do gorilla trekking,” he explains.
“When they stay longer, they spend more money, the private sector earns more, and
governments collect more taxes.”
The collaboration is now being formalized through a memorandum of association
between Uganda and Kenya, with parallel agreements expected within the private
sector. The partnership has expanded beyond the Kenyan Coast to include Nairobi-
based stakeholders, with interest now coming from Rwanda, Tanzania, and
beyond—hinting at a future where East Africa is marketed as a single, seamless
destination.
However, even with the partnerships, challenges still remain. Mukumbya points to the
high cost of air transport within Africa as a major barrier. While visas have largely been
eliminated, taxes and fees continue to inflate ticket prices, making regional travel far
more expensive than comparable journeys in Europe.
As he retires after turning 60 in November, Mukumbya’s hope is that East Africa will
one day sell itself collectively, with governments enabling and the private sector leading.
“I have always believed that when you talk only to governments, you are talking to
yourselves,” he reflects. “Real progress happens when the private sector is fully
involved.”
