President Museveni lauds Kasese over autonomy

KASESE - President Yoweri Museveni has lauded the people of Kasese for having demanded autonomy from the Toro kingdom 50 years ago.

"It is often hard for a society to make independent decisions and solve their own problems when they are the subjugation of other people," the president said in a speech to hundreds at district jubilee celebrations held at Nyakasanga playground in Kasese Municipality, April 30. 

Kasese was carved out of and granted district status on April 14, 1974, following a presidential directive by Uganda’s third President, Idi Amin (1971-1979).

Until then, Kasese was known as Busongora County, one of the Toro kingdom’s administrative units.

Amin directed that the area be granted a district status after an 18-member delegation representing the Bakonzo, Bamba, and several minorities, including the Basongora, travelled to State House, Entebbe, decrying being marginalised by the Toro kingdom.

In a speech read by the state minister for trade, industries and cooperatives, Gen Wilson Mbadi Mbasu, President Museveni said the demand for a separate district was justified, explaining that the separation of Kasese from Toro helped in decentralising service delivery.

He said that until the separation, it was hard for all people to access services from the colonial-skewed systems and structures under which the Toro kingdom operated.

“It also helped to ease tensions occasioned by the sub-colonial system and liberate the aggrieved communities who were not free to speak their language, which is a vital element of a people’s culture,” he added.

The President called for “a three-language policy in East Africa community that simultaneously promoted local languages, English and Kiswahili.

He donated Sh50m toward the function and reiterated his call for commercial agriculture, industrialisation, ICT and infrastructure as key drivers of development.

The President urged the residents to utilise the abundant culture and encouraged the residents, especially the youth, to guard against shunning employment opportunities.

The state minister for ICT and National Guidance, Godfrey Kabbyanga Kiime, challenged the people of Kasese to strategically position themselves to benefit from the upcoming three mega economic projects that are underway.

These, he said, include former copper-mining giant Kilembe, which was recently handed over to a new investor, Sarai, which had won the contract.

Kabbyanga also said feasibility designs were being finalised to upgrade Kasese Aerodrome to an international airport and that a Turkish investor was already doing feasibility studies on the revival of the Kampala-Kasese railway. 

Matayo Kambere (C), who claims to have walked to State House to demand the separation of Kasese from Toro. (Credit: John Thawite)

“All these are opportunities for you people to do business in accommodation, food, boosting your shops and employment,” Kabbyanga said.

He urged parents to orient their children towards skilling courses such as carpentry, welding, electrical engineering and geology.

He said under the local content, Kilembe alone was set to offer 40% of the over 1,000 jobs.

District scores

The district chairperson, Erifazi Muhindi Bukombi, said Kasese had registered numerous millstones since its inception in 1974.

He said, besides growing from six Sub-Counties in 1974 to 44 in 2025 and from two to five elective constituencies, the district had expanded to 225 Parishes and over 874 villages.

Boasting a road network of more than 500 kilometres and a water supply of from 5% to over 60% to date, the district also has mega gravity-water flow projects coming up in the district, reducing the clean and safe water supply coverage to more than 75%.

Muhindi said the schools had increased from only five primary schools in 1974 to 264 Government-aided and 320 private primary schools.

“We also have 48 government-aided and private secondary schools and 15 institutions of higher learning, up from zero as of 1974,” he said.

At the celebrations, 100 people, some posthumously, were awarded medals for their various contributions to the district over the past fifty years.

The beneficiaries from various sectors such as education, religion, the media, local administration and the delegation that had visited Amin to demand a separate district.