Employees and Staff of Merit Safaris

 

The Company | Activities and Services | Traveller Reviews

Merit Safaris employs over 60 people, 21 are permanent staff and the rest work seasonally. Our staff's work and departments are sub-divided into Tours, Reservations, Car Hire, Events and Conferences, Drivers, while others are in Accounts, Fleet Management, Sales and Marketing. The Driver-Guides' department has the highest number of staff. As the only Safari company in the world operating the four countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo on a massive scale, Merit Vacations regularly trains its staff to keep up with the ever changing global conditions.

The People that Make Merit Safaris

 

Rebecca K. Mugume B.TM. (Hons, Mak); Dip. HRM, (UMI) - Director

Rebecca K. Mugume

Rebecca is the overall Director, based in Kampala Uganda where our Head Office is. Rebecca has a degree in Tourism from Makerere University and a diploma in Human Resource Management from the Uganda Management Institute (UMI), and is on the Board of the Uganda National Health Consumers Association (UNHCO), a non- profit, non-governmental organisation started to advocate for healthy consumption and use of resources. With ten years experience on tourism, she has served the Tourism industry in the world with full commitment.

Francis Kimbowa, (B.TM Hons, Mak); M.A LURD (Mak) - Co-Director and Director of Operations

 

Francis has a First Class Honours Degree in Tourism from Makerere University, E.Africa, and also a holder of an MA in Land Use and Regional Development Planning. He has over 13 years experience in institutional leadership, tourism management and consultancy. He has also provided effective leadership to two major tourism-related organizations, and is a Lecturer to undergraduate students of Tourism at Makerere University. The man has outstanding sensitization and team-building skills. Francis is a co-Director with Rebecca and the Head of Operations, a position which enbles him to run the day to day activities of the company. Francis is also an editorial contributor on the Uganda/Rwanda/Congo/Burundi section for herbote.com, a comprehensive source for country information worldwide.

 

Rachel Akankwasa (B.TM, Hons, Mak) - Tours Officer

Rachel was born and raised in South Western Uganda around Lake Bunyonyi in Kabale District, an area which is commonly referred to as the ‘Switzland of Africa’. Southwestern Uganda is home to the World’s unique Wild life - The Mountain Gorilla and the people of Kabale, the Bakiga (pronounced Batche-iga) are some of the most open-minded and friendly in Uganda. Rachel is a graduate of Tourism from Makerere University, and has carried out research on The Challenges of Tourism Development on Aquatic Areas. She therefore always has first hand information about the destinations of this region.

Joan Namuwulya (B.TM, Hons, Mak) - Reservations Officer

 

Born and raised in Entebbe, Joan holds a bachelor’s degree in Tourism from Makerere University. She has carried out research on the Tourism and the Benefit Sharing Policy in Mabira Forest. Joan has always had a great passion and fascination for tourism and is essentially touched by the world cultures and wildlife especially the mountain gorillas. She also has great passion for traveling, adventure, meeting and interacting with new people. Joan is fascinated with the cleanliness, beauty, and interesting history of upcountry towns and cultural places of the world, a quality she exhibits in making successful reservations for all bookings and safaris.

Rwanda Operations - Tim Marty Gawaya

 

Tim holds a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce from Makerere University. He has managed our Rwanda operations since 2004. Born in Uganda but married to a Rwanda National, Joy Bateta, Tim has been staying in Kigali since 2003 and is in love with the Country. His vast experience in travel and accounts operations, and his multi-cultural facetedness enables our operations in Rwanda to be well managed. He regulalry liases with our Kampala and Congo operations. Tim Gawaya is very social, and loves to meet and interact with people of all walks and backgrounds. A true gem in the company.

 

Burundi Operations

 

Managed by Methode SINARINZI, one of the few English speaking people in Bujumbura! Methode also is fluent in French and Kiswahili. His regular visits to Rwanda and Uganda and with his diploma in Education, made Methode the most suitable candidate to run our Bujumbura operations. He is full of vigour, character and discipline, a soft-speaking man full of wisdom and knowledge on Burundi.

Congo Operations

 

Goerge Mudahungwa

Managed by George Ephraim Mudahungwa. George was born and raised in Kisoro, Uganda by Rwandan parents. His vast experience on Southern Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are what enabled us to manage and do gorilla safaris in Congo and Rwanda on a regular basis. Those tracking gorillas in Congo will be sure to meet him in Kisoro for a detailed briefing on gorilla etiquette in Uganda and Congo.

 

 

Other Staff and Departments

Nicholas Musoke

Timothy Basiima manages our Accounts department; he holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Auditing from Makerere University. Nicholas Musoke, Ronald Kagiri and Moses Musaasizi Semata help out in this department, in advice on the latest accounts software, and generally managing the finances of the company. Nicholas Musoke holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce and Accounting from Makerere University; Ronald Kagiri is a holder of a BSc in Statistics from Makerere University; while Moses Semata holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism from the same university.

Drivers and The Fleet -

 

Moses Sentongo

Managed by Moses Shuaib Sentongo and Matthew Kiseegerwa, assisted by David Habarugira. Under them we have some of the most committed safari guides and drivers - Godfrey Magembe, Salim, John Mukasa, Farouk Busuurwa, Nasser, Stephen, Moses Kizza, Lawrence Owongo, Joseph Zziwa, Kasozi, Bukenya, Badru, Alex, Andrew Kasenene, Dennis, James, Medi, Ibrahim Kamya, Frank Leheray, Moses Bunkeddeko, Geoffrey Muwanga, Godfrey Mukisa, Yusuf Sebuguzi, Joseph Elegu, Emmanuel Kasenene, Moses Byaruhanga, Top Lugo, Moses Waswa, Mugagga Juuko, Adrian Ddungu, Moses Kanwagi, Bosco and Kaleerwe to mention just some of them. In Rwanda: Gerald, Stephen, Danny Bizimana, Yahya Mvune, Richard and Bill. These are a committed team, passionate to share the wonders of their country. They are all fluent in English and some in Swahili, the main language of the East African region.

The Mechanical Team

 

The Mechanical Team

Managed by Zinda, and assisted by Nvule in engine repairs, Kimuli in vehicle wiring, and Lutalo in engine imports and fixing. These guys have worked well on our vehicles for the past 7 years, being a committed team of experts, most with professional mechanical training from Makerere University and other technical institutions.

 

At merit Safaris, We look forward to seeing you in Rwanda, Uganda, Congo and Burundi - a trully wonderful world of travel.

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ChimpanzeeFrom the Directors

Doing safaris in Africa is a different context from the way it is done in Europe. The operating costs in Uganda are about twice that in Nairobi and in Rwanda about two and half times the price in Nairobi. In addition to tax, VAT and overheads are punitive. At the same time our knowledge and experience of the region is what enables us to do safaris of the best possible quality, even in the most difficult of circumstances. The huge infrastructure we have in place in Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and Burundi is what makes it possible to run safaris of such quality and inevitably that does not come cheap sometimes. The roads and other infrastructure, and generally the systems here do not always make it easy to do work, but we have always gone above the situation.

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