MBARARA – President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that Nyakishara will host a new international airport, describing it as one of the biggest development projects ever planned for the Mbarara region.
Speaking during campaign meetings at Booma Grounds, Museveni said the airport was selected by Chinese and Brazilian partners because Nyakishara shortens major global routes, making it a strategic point for international travel and cargo.
“This airport will open big opportunities for the people of Ankole,” Museveni said. “Its location gives Uganda an advantage on global routes, and that is why our partners chose it. It will attract investors, boost trade and tourism, and bring direct benefits to our farmers and business people.”
He noted that the airport will be built on the same scale as Entebbe International Airport, and will complement developments already undertaken in other regions, such as the airport facilities established in Moroto and Kaabong to support economic activity in Karamoja.
Museveni said the new Mbarara airport will push the region further into national and international markets, allowing agricultural products, beef, dairy, tourism services and manufactured goods to reach buyers more quickly and at a lower cost.
“This is how regions grow,” he said. “When you add an international airport to roads, electricity, and peace, the economy takes off.”
The President also announced upgrades to major roads, including the Bwizibwera–Nsika–Nyakashaka–Nyakabirizi road and the Biharwe–Rwantysinga–Kaguhanzya–Bwentama–Bwizibwera route, saying improved transport will support the expected expansion around the airport.
As a brief aside, Museveni told the crowd that the peace now enjoyed across Uganda — from Karamoja to Kisoro and from Busia to Bundibugyo — is what has made such projects possible, contrasting it with the days when he passed through some of the same areas “with guns.”
He ended by thanking the people of Mbarara for their support, saying, “Nimwebare munonga, Abanya Mbarara.”
