Irene Ntale, Ronald Maro named Swim Safe Uganda ambassadors

The appointment was announced on 29 March on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kaazi, south of the capital Kampala.

The two artists announced their ambassadorships via Facebook.

"Proud to announce my new ambassadorial role as an advocate for the Water Safety campaign by Swim Safe Uganda,” Ntale wrote on Facebook. “It was a pleasure meeting the honourable Minister of Tourism in Uganda Godfrey Kiwanda. As Ugandans, we need to learn how to swim. It is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.”

Maro wrote: "The Water Safety campaign champions courtesy of the Swim Safe organisation in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism will start free swimming lessons and training to fight the high rate of deaths in Ugandan waterbodies. I am responsible for sending the message to my people on the great river Nile."

The campaign start on 3 May and is expected to be gradually rolled out in areas outside Kampala.

According to the Minister of Tourism Godfrey Kiwanda, at least 5 000 people drown in Uganda's lakes and rivers every year.

“We have an urgent issue to address," he told local media. "We cannot continue to sit back as thousands drown. Some cases are never documented, so the number is bigger than this."

Meanwhile, rapper Navio has been appointed African ambassador of Real Palm Wear. The singer will collaborate with the company in spearheading a charity project for a children’s orphanage.

Navio announced his new role on 1 April via Instagram by sharing a picture of himself wearing a Real Palm Wear-branded T-shirt.

“Proud to announce that I’ve become the ambassador in Africa for the new brand @realpalmwear!” he wrote. "The message of this brand is something close to my heart, and I feel proud representing. The statement of the brand is to Stop Judging! It does not matter what colour you are, where you are from, or what you do. That is not all: 10% of all sales goes to their charity projects, and the first project is right here in Uganda.”