Kasese is a town north of Lake George in the Western Region of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It originally grew around the

copper mine Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

at Kilembe, while attention later turned to

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, p ...

mining. It is the chief town of

Kasese District Kasese District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most other Ugandan districts, the town of Kasese is the site of the district headquarters. History In September 2022, the district was hit by deadly landslides. Location Kasese District ...

, and the district headquarters are located there. Kasese is also the largest town in the

Rwenzururu region Rwenzururu is a subnational kingdom in western Uganda, located in the Rwenzori Mountains on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The kingdom includes the districts of Bundibugyo, Kasese and Ntoroko. Rwenzururu is also the name ...

Charles Mumbere Charles Wesley Mumbere, known by his royal title Irema-Ngoma I, is the king (known locally as the Omusinga) of the African kingdom of Rwenzururu, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Mumbere was arrested in December 2016 after the clashes in t ...

, the Omusinga of Rwenzururu, maintains a palace in the town.

Location

Kasese is at the western end of the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the li ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

and Tororo and is home to

Kasese Airport Kasese Airport is an airport in Uganda. Location The airport is located in the town of Kasese, Kasese District, in the Western Region of Uganda, at the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains and close to the international border with the Democra ...

. The city is near the

Rwenzori Mountains The Ruwenzori, also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura, are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches , and the range ...

and

Queen Elizabeth National Park Queen Elizabeth National Park is a national park in Uganda. Location Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) is in the Western Region of Uganda, spanning the districts of Kasese, Kamwenge, Rubirizi, and Rukungiri. The park is approximately by ...

. Kasese is locate approximately , by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. This is about , by road, north-east of

Mpondwe Mpondwe is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. Location Mpondwe is located in the Rwenzori Mountains in Kasese District. The town is at the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Bwera is another settlement to the immediate ...

, the border town at the international border between Uganda and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC). The coordinates of Kasese are 0°11'12.0"N, 30°05'17.0"E (Latitude:0.186667; Longitude:30.088050).

Population

The national census of 1969 enumerated the population of Kasese Town at 7,213 people. In 1980, the census that year put the population of the town at 9,917. In 1991, the national census numerated 18,750 inhabitants in Kasese. That population had increased to 85,697 people, according to the 2002 national census. On 27 August 2014, the census and national housing survey enumerated 101,065 people in Kasese Town Council. In 2020, the

Uganda Bureau of Statistics The Uganda Bureau of Statistics ("UBOS") is an agency of the Ugandan government. Formed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act, 1998, the agency is mandated to "coordinate, monitor and supervise Uganda's National Statistical System". Locatio ...

(UBOS), estimated the mid-year population of the town at 115,400 inhabitants. UBOS calculated that the population of Kasese Municipality increased at an average rate of 2.3 percent annually, between 2014 and 2020.

Population dynamics

During the 1990s Kasese Town was one of the fastest growing municipalities in Uganda. The reasons for this rapid population growth include: * Increased tourism - Kasese is the gateway to Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the most popular in Uganda, and the Rwenzori National Park. * Kilembe Mines employs a large number of workers; over 3,000 as of January 2015. *

Hima Cement Limited Hima Cement Limited (HCL) is a cement manufacturer in Uganda. It is a subsidiary of the Holcim Group, a building materials manufacturer headquartered in Switzerland, with subsidiaries in over 80 countries. Location The main factories of HCL ar ...

is another big employer located in Hima, approximately , by road, north of Kasese. * Increased trade with the eastern districts of the DRC. The border town of

is only south-west of Kasese.

Industry

Kasese Cobalt Company Limited (KCCL), located on the road from Kasese to

Rubirizi Rubirizi, sometimes spelled Rubiriizi, is a town in Rubirizi District, Ankole sub-region, Western Uganda. The town is the main municipal, administrative and commercial center of Rubirizi District. The district is named after the town. Locat ...

just south of the central business district of Kasese, extracts cobalt from the sludge left after copper is extracted from the raw ore.

Points of interest

The following points of interest lie within the town or close to its edges: * Seat of Obusinga Bwa Rwenzururu * headquarters of Kasese District * offices of Kasese town council * Kasese central market * branch of the National Social Security Fund * Hima Cement Limited *

* Kilembe Cobalt Company Limited * Kilembe Mines - Extraction of copper. Maintains a private hospital and a 5 megawatt mini-hydropower plant,

Mubuku I Power Station Mubuku I Power Station is a mini-hydroelectric power station in Uganda. Location The power station is located between Bugoye and Kitoko, straddling the Mubuku River in Kasese District in Western Uganda. The station is in the foothills of the Rw ...

, that supplies the town of Kasese. * Kilembe Mines Hospital - A 200-bed community hospital administered by Kilembe Mines Limited.

References

External links

Kasese Leaders Question Omission from Elevated Cities
As of 29 May 2019.
Kasese municipality records major leap in revenue collections
As of 22 May 2021. {{Kasese District . Rwenzururu sub-region Cities in the Great Rift Valley Populated places in Western Region, Uganda