As you come close to Fort Patiko, the picturesque environs of rocks and greenery spread on a hill may blur your mind from its dark past. The 19th-century burg strategically lies next to six hills- Ajulu, Ladwong, Labwomor, Kijuur, Abaka, and Akara making it a cove.
To understand the cultural and historical grandeur of Sir Samuel Baker’s Fort at Patiko, one must imbibe the facts surrounding its gruesome slave trade past. Only fragments of the Fort’s original structures remain after enduring a fair share of tropical rain permeating through the stone structures.
In the mid-1800s, Arab merchants set up shop at Patiko in present day Aswa county some 40kms from the heart of Gulu City in Northern Uganda to expand their Ivory business.
The ivory business was lucrative as elephants roamed the area for grasses, leaves, water and fruit. But only for a while! when the elephants became meagre the merchants shifted their goalposts to the slave trade. The trade is said to have lasted for at least 19 years.
Lives of many natives ended here, thousands of men, women and children were kidnapped and imprisoned at the fort to be traded. After a thorough selection, the ‘worthy’ were eventually transported to slave ports such as Alexandria whilst the ugly, elderly and weak were executed.
To this day blood marks and machete-made dents are still visible on a rock slab where many are believed to have been executed by beheading or firing squad.
Ronald Okello Onen, a tour guide at the Fort for over a decade says, “the place was used for holding and screening slaves that were raided from the neighbouring villages, three square-shaped huts were built with rocks to serve as stores for ammunition, ivory and food stuff”
Challenges
Onen furthermore says, to this day not many Ugandans are aware of Fort Patiko’s historical significance despite being the first place where Acholis first settled over 1200 years ago after migrating from South Sudan. He furthermore says only a handful of tourists visit the Fort each year, mainly foreigners. “During good seasons we receive around 200 visitors mainly foreigners and school children,”
Despite of Fort Patiko’s tourism prowess, it is “badly short-staffed” with only two workers assigned to attend the historic site. Also the site has no running water and electricity supply on top of the poor road network.
Onen notes that the Fort’s structures were ravaged by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) war than spanned for over 20 years in the North. “During the war, the place was turned into a camp for the internally displaced, the old indigenous trees were cut including those with historical significance. We are not creating anything new, we are preserving what is left,”
Onen revealed that they are embroiled in a land dispute with a section of locals. The group is said to have claimed ownership of about 5 acres of the 9.4 hectares.
What is government doing?
To turn Fort Patiko’s fortunes around, the Ministry of Tourism Wildlife and Antiquities has committed to promote and as well remind tourists both local and foreign of the importance of the site and its place in the history of the land.
During the recently concluded tourism campaign dubbed ‘Explore North’, Tourism State Minister Martin Mugarra led a group of over 300 local tourists, tour operators and other stakeholders to uncover tourist attractions of the Northern part of the country.
While at Fort Patiko, Mugarra had an engagement with the local leaders and other stakeholders in the area. He noted, “As a ministry we are dedicated to preserve and raise awareness of Uganda’s heritage for the population and future generations to come,”
Mugarra believes that to create local interest in the Fort, government must invest in the preservation of what is left of the place, extend social services and as well rally private investment in hospitality around the area in order to mint revenue for the people and government.
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