The 21 Zonal Industrial Hubs under the Presidential Initiative on Skilling Uganda and managed under State House are set to revolutionise youth empowerment and in the drive to transform Ugandan society from a predominant peasant and low-income economy to a competitive Middle Income economy.
Post-Covid-19 lockdown, bringing economic empowerment closer to the people is among the most important concerns of the Government. There is no single entity or person that was not impacted by the ravages of lockdown, curfew, and shutdown of sections of the economy. It is time to revive the economy with targeted and general interventions.
Uganda still has one of the highest populations of young people in the world. These are a resource when “taught how to fish” and given the hooks but a liability when left out of national planning and programs.
Advanced economies of the world have developed because of equipping their nationals with hands-on skills. They adopted this idea earlier than us while they were still on theoretical instruction to address illiteracy that bedeviled traditional African societies. Uganda has attained commendable literacy levels and can now channel more resources in skills development for production and industrial advancement.
The Zonal Industrial Hubs will add great impetus to existing programmes such as Youth Livelihood Program (YLP) and stimulate production, employment as well as socio-economic transformation among Ugandans.
As the State House Comptroller, Ms. Jane Barekye, hits the ground to sensitise leaders and the public in the different zones in preparation for their operationalisation, she will be marketing a unique Program that can be a game changer if the public embraces and supports it well.
The hubs have been created as one-stop centres for skilling and production. They have machine capacity of 300 learners per semester making them 600 learners per year each zonal hub, bringing the total number of trainees to 12, 600 annually.
The hubs are equipped with common user machines where trainees can make their products and sell them. For instance, at Kawumu in Luweero where the President has a demonstration farm, there is a tannery where youths skilled in shoemaking are showcasing their craft and earning big.
Each industrial hub will also have a four-acre model or demonstration farm with the aim of promoting President Museveni’s vision of teaching farmers how to benefit economically on small pieces of land.
There will also be storage facilities or silos to benefit the local communities around. They will store their cereals there during the peak season for free and use them during off-season.
To the credit of President Yoweri Museveni, the Skilling Program has the power to transform lives of Bazzukulu , equipping them with both applicable and employable skills which can accord them financial independence and introduce them into the all-important money economy.
This initiative is an answer to the Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) policy of import substitution.
Trained in baking, tailoring, knitting, weaving, shoe-making, hair-dressing, welding, masonry and carpentry, beneficiaries go on to start business and cottage industries with a multiplier effect. School dropouts and orphans have found a new lease on life from the arrangement. It should be remembered that during lockdown, a good number of girls conceived and became mothers. They may not return to their former schools. They require alternative interventions so that they don’t get left out.
As the Program rolls out, some areas need particular attention such as the lake basin districts. Many youths in these districts earned their livelihood on the lake but went out of business following a crackdown meant streamline fishing. Many of them are idle. Intelligence information reveals that these are a potential catchment for ADF insurgents that have always tried to recruit there. For many of them, their problem is survival but not because they hate the government. They only need empowerment and they will totally denounce ideas of engaging in criminal acts.
There are also areas where the leaders are less interested in development and have more time for politics. Youths here need general mindset change, skills and capital.
Using the State House as the base for Skilling Uganda was strategic. Officials are answerable to President Museveni directly. Accountability is easy.
There are also few layers of bureaucracy during implementation. After vetting beneficiaries and how organized they are, money and inputs are delivered directly to the designated beneficiaries. There are no “middle men” or brokers to eat into the capital available to beneficiaries. Neither is their political influence in selecting beneficiaries. As a result, the initiative has been free of controversy.
Youths countrywide should organise themselves to benefit from the Hubs program and step out of the cycle of poverty. Local leaders; Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), Members of Parliament (MPs), Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), Local Council 5 Chairpersons, District Internal Security Officers (DISOs) and District Commercial Officers (DCOs) should embrace the idea of the Hubs and mobilise their people to utilise them for maximum benefit.
With such cottage industries taking shape and with a growing population of skilled young people, Uganda’s drive as an industrial and modern economy is well on course.
Faruk Kirunda is the Deputy Presidential Press Secretary
Contact: faruk.kirunda@statehouse.go.ug
0776980486/0702980486
Leave a Reply