Kasenda Sub-county: The land of crater lakes and scenic views

The local communities around Kasenda Sub County have started to make crafts, mats and local tables and selling them to tourists to benefit from the increasing number of tourists. Photo by ALEX ASHABA

What you need to know:

  • Tucked away in Kabarole District, Kasenda Sub-county is a gem in the rough. With several craters and eye captivating scenery, this once forgotten place is a budding tourist attraction.
    Its discovery has come with several opportunities that the residents are enjoying and business is booming.

With more than 15 Crater lakes located in one sub county, Kasenda in Kabarole District has been earmarked as one of the hot spot centres for tourists.

The area has not been exploited for years in terms of investment because it is located in remote areas of Kabarole District.

However, in 2013 government earmarked Fort Portal Town as one of tourism cities in vision 2040, and since then people are rushing into the area to put up investments since it has tourist attractions in form of crater lakes.

Craters are flat floor depressions, formed when explosions and eruptions of gases blow off the rocks at the surface, leaving a shallow circular depression.

Why many crater lakes
Owing to volcanic activity, formation of several crater lakes occurred and they are widely spread in the entire sub county. This also explains why pozzolana, the mineral used in manufacturing cement, has high deposits in Kabarole District.

Some of the crater lakes in the area include Rweiteera, Rwakenzi Kanyango, Ndikya, Rwenjubu, Rugembe, Mwamba, Nyinambuga, Rukwanzi, Kyerere, Rwandakarra, Nzigamire, Budallah, Marusi, Kanyabitetere, among others.

Location
If one wants to visit these crater lakes they can use Fort Portal- Kamwenge road branch off at Kasisi trading centre and drive 10 kilometres before they are welcomed by the beautiful twin crater lakes of Nyinambuga and Kifuruka with the road passing in between lakes.

Another access to Kasenda Sub-county is still along Fort Portal- Kamwenge road at Rweiteera tea factory, one kilometre from Rweiteera trading centre where you will be welcomed by Kibaale National Game Park head offices and Rweiteera Crater Lake.
From Kasese Town along Kasese -Fort Portal road in Rwimi town at Kyaga trading centre six kilometres from the road, you are welcomed by River Nsogya.

Why is it ideal for investment?
Gideon Ruta, a resident of Kasenda Sub-county, says while the area has many attractive features of crater lakes that are not yet developed, it still receives many tourists on daily basis.
He said after every 10 minutes a tourist van bypass his home carrying more than five tourists coming to see crater lakes and sleep in the few established lodges in the area.

“We are the only sub-county in Kabarole District with several tourist attractions and if they are giving a city for tourism, we should have been number one to be considered seeing that it is especially foreigners coming in our area to buy land to establish hotels and lodges,” Ruta said.

Kasenda Sub-county also borders with other tourist attractions of Kibale National Park in Kamwenge District and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Kasese District.
Among the crater lakes, the most attractive ones are the twin lakes of Nyinambuga and Kifuruka that also boast of beautiful scenery.

Janet Kembambazi, resident of Kasenda, urges locals to venture into building lodges and hotels to accommodate the many tourists that flood the place. “There is still enough undeveloped land that can be used to build accommodation. Most of those that have taken interest are whites and are earning big,” she said.

At Nyinambuga Crater Lake, there is a lodge, beach and hotel called Ndali that attracts several tourists.
Other crater lakes that have attracted developers include Kyerere, Kasenda, Marusi and Budallah where investors are putting up accommodation premises.

The crater lakes also support fishing, both local and cage fishing, if restocked.
Ruta points out that land in Kasenda, especially near the crater lakes was seen as wasted land in the 1990s because of its remoteness but is now becoming popular, thanks to tourism.

Cost of land
For the last 20 years the cost land in Kasenda Sub-county has gradually increased due to high demand for land to do investment.
Three acres of land were previously sold at Shs300,000, currently, it goes for Shs90 million depending on the location of land.

The cost of 1 acre of land that borders crater lakes is between Shs40m and Shs90m depending on where one wants to establish hotel or lodge.
For a plot of land 50×100 like at Rwakenzi trading centre is between Shs15m to Shs25m depending on how someone has negotiated while one acre of land a little far from the crater lakes is between Shs10m and Shs20m.

Access roads
As the area grows into a tourist hub, the Kabarole District Local Government has constructed access roads in the entire sub-county that connect to different crater lakes including 19 kilometre Isunga-Nyabweya to Rwimi, Kasisi-Rweihamba-Kasenda to Rwakenzi road, Rweihamba-Kanyerire-Rweranza, Iruuhura-Nyabinyonyi-Kasenda, Rugembe-Kasenda trading centre, Kabata-Rusona-Kiceeri-Kitooro trading centre, among others.

Schools
Kasenda Sub-county has eight government aided primary schools and one seed school including Mbuga Primary School, Nyabweya, Iruuhura, Kyatambala, Pere Act, Kasenda, Rwakenzi and Rwekuba.

Security
The sub county has two police posts with one located at Rwakenzi trading centre and another at Iruuhura trading centre. Both police posts offer night patrols in the area to fight crime.

Water
The sub county is connected to the national water grid with lines starting from Kabata-Rusona, Kabata-Kasenda to Kitooro trading centre and Kasenda-Kibuga to Kihumuro while other villages use shallow wells.