THE name Kisoro originates from the early administrators who found many wild animals (bisoro) in the area. With its terraced rolling hills, Kisoro, 510 kilometres from Kampala, is a land of great tourism potential.
The terrain has, however, impacted greatly on transport and communication, making some of the areas inaccessible especially during the rainy season.
The district is blessed with various tourist attractions and a cool climate. Kisoro is home to the Bwindi Impenetrable forest and national park.
Kisoro town. The hilly terrain makes it hard to reach some areas in the district
Other physical features include the “cooking pots” – volcanic mountains of Muhabura, Mgahinga, Sabinyo, Mileno, and Muhavura.
Major tourist attractions include mountain climbing, gorilla tracking in Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks. It also offers scenic views from the 8000 feet-high Kamba gap, the highest point at the border. There are numerous crater lakes such as Lake Mutanda with hot springs.
David Masereka, the Kisoro resident district commissioner, says: “Tourism will be the mainstay of the people if it is fully exploited.”
The mission statement of Kisoro district administration is: ‘To provide quality services to the people of Kisoro at a least cost so as to improve their quality of life.’
The volcanic soils are suitable for crop cultivation, which also define the mainstay of the people and favours Kisoro as the food basket of Uganda. The district experiences two rainy seasons a year, with the first rains coming in March up to June and the second in August to October. The dry seasons are from November to February and June to August.
Paul Senzoga Manirakiza, the acting chief administrative officer says, the district has formulated a tourism plan under which they have identified various sites with tourism investment potential, which will enable the district boost its revenue.
“Tourism in Kisoro is a priority and we have a comparative advantage. The Kisoro-Kabale road tarmacking project will also boost development. We are also advocating for the tarmacking of the Mghahinga-Nteko road to link the two national parks of Mghahinga and Bwindi. We are training our people in making handcrafts that can satisfy the needs of tourists who come to Kisoro. We are also improving on the available hotels so that they appeal to the tastes of the tourists,” he says.
With an area of 729.7 square kilometres including land and swamps, Kisoro is one of the smallest districts in Uganda with only one county of Bufumbira.
Inhabitants include the Bafumbira, Bakiga and the Batwa- a pygmy ethnic group threatened by extinction. Other groups include the Bahutu, Batusi and Banyamulenge.
Kisoro has a population of 227,868 people, according to the 2002 population and housing census, at a growth rate of 1.5%.
The district is located at the southwestern most tip of Uganda. It borders Kanungu to the north, Kabale to the east, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the west, and Republic of Rwanda to the south.
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