President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has announced plans to construct a new airport and extend the Standard Gauge Railway to Kasese District as part of efforts to unlock the region’s tourism and trade potential.
Addressing residents during a campaign rally in the Rwenzori sub-region on Thursday, the NRM presidential flagbearer said the government is prioritizing major transport upgrades in Kasese because of its strategic importance.
“We are going to renovate the railway line. Work has already begun on the Malaba–Kampala section, and later we shall extend services to this region. Here in Kasese, we shall build a new SGR,” Museveni said.
He added that a new airport will also be built to serve the tourism sector. “We shall construct the airport here because of tourism activities in the area. We had to first build the one in Hoima because of oil.”
Kasese currently has an airstrip and an old railway line that is no longer functional.
Museveni said improved transport will boost local incomes by enabling easier movement of goods and tourists, while promoting investment opportunities in the region.
He also highlighted progress in road development, noting that the Fort Portal–Kasese road has been upgraded twice, together with routes to Katunguru and Bushenyi–Ishaka. He said the Kikorongo–Bwera road will be repaired, and the Fort Portal–Bundibugyo road remains a crucial link for mountainous communities.
The President further pointed to improved education and health services in Kasese, including 260 government primary schools, 25 secondary schools, a district hospital, and multiple health centres. He pledged to expand access to schools across the district.
Museveni urged residents to embrace commercial agriculture, warning that infrastructure alone cannot lift households out of poverty.
“Tarmac roads can pass through your area, but that doesn’t mean you will become rich,” he told supporters. He encouraged farmers to adopt the four-acre model to boost productivity.
He credited Operation Wealth Creation and the Parish Development Model for reducing subsistence farming, saying 70 percent of Ugandans now produce for both food and income, up from 32 percent when the OWC programme began.
On employment, Museveni emphasized the role of private enterprise in job creation. “Government provides only 480,000 jobs for 50 million people. Government jobs are consumptive; jobs are created by individuals and companies.”
He concluded by urging residents to guard the peace that has enabled development, saying the government will not tolerate attempts to destabilize the country.
