President Yoweri Museveni has announced major transport upgrades for Kasese District, including plans for a new airport and a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line, saying the projects will boost tourism, trade, and regional connectivity in the Rwenzori area.

Addressing residents during a campaign rally on Thursday, the NRM presidential candidate said modernizing Kasese’s transport links is essential due to its strategic position and strong tourism appeal.

“We are going to rehabilitate the railway. Work is already underway on the Malaba–Kampala section, and it will eventually extend to this region. Here in Kasese, we shall construct a new SGR,” Museveni said as he launched his campaign tour of the Rwenzori sub-region.

He added that the government also intends to build an airport in the district. “We shall construct the airport here because of the tourism activities. We first worked on the one in Hoima because of the oil sector.”

Kasese currently relies on an airstrip, while its old railway line has long fallen into disrepair.

Museveni told supporters that improved transport would energize the local economy by easing movement, widening markets, and encouraging investment.

He also pointed to progress on major road projects. The Fort Portal–Kasese road has undergone two upgrades, as have the routes to Katunguru and Bushenyi–Ishaka. He said the deteriorated Kikorongo–Bwera road will be rehabilitated, while the Fort Portal–Bundibugyo road remains vital for highland communities.

Beyond infrastructure, Museveni highlighted improvements in social services, including 260 government-aided primary schools, 25 secondary schools, a district hospital, and multiple Health Centre IIs and IIIs. He pledged further expansion of education facilities.

On wealth creation, the President cautioned that infrastructure alone cannot guarantee prosperity. He encouraged residents to embrace the four-acre model—combining coffee, food crops, pasture, and livestock—to boost household incomes.

He credited initiatives such as Operation Wealth Creation and the Parish Development Model for reducing reliance on subsistence farming, noting that 70% of Ugandans now produce for both food and income, up from 32% when OWC began.

Museveni added that most jobs must come from the private sector, explaining that government employs only 480,000 people out of a population of 50 million.

He ended his address by urging residents to safeguard the peace that enables development, warning that attempts to destabilize the country would be firmly countered.