Kasese is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the capital of Kasese District. Kasese is also the largest town in the Rwenzururu region. In 2020 it had an estimated population 115,400. It lies north of Lake George and east of Rwenzori Mountains.

Location

Kasese is located approximately 380 km west from Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city, 40 km north-east of Mpondwe, a town at the international border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The coordinates of Kasese are 0°11'12.0"N, 30°05'17.0"E (Latitude:0.186667; Longitude:30.088050).

Climate

Population

The national census of 1969 enumerated the population of Kasese Town at 7,213 people. In 1980, the population 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 (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:

Industry

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