The Assistant commissioner of youth and children in the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development, Mondo Kyateka, has urged youth to stop giving birth to children they cannot cater for.

Kyateka said that many youth these days are giving birth to children they cannot look after which has contributed highly to the rapid growth of the population.

"Statistics show that before the Covid-19 outbreak, poverty levels had gone down to 19 per cent, but it has increased to 21.4 per cent. This means that working people are few compared to the dependent,’’ Kyateka said.

Some of the people who attended the Wezesha awards ceremony. Photos by Jovita Mirembe

He further said that youth are the leaders of tomorrow and if they don’t prepare the country by working hard, Uganda will stay underdeveloped.  

Kyateka said this while officiating at the Wezesha Awards ceremony that took place at Silver Springs Hotel in Bugolobi.

The Executive Director of Wezesaha Impact, Solomon Kayiwa Mugambe, said that youth constitute 75% of Uganda’s population who should transform the country by getting skills.

He said that these skills help the youth to create jobs for themselves because every year institutions of learning churn out thousands of graduates to the job market, yet there are no jobs for all of them.

The managing director Wezesha, James Katumba, appealed to the government and the private sector to support young entrepreneurs.  

Paul Kato the first runner up of the Wesesha Awards receiving a cheque.

Winners awarded

Patient Baraka who was the winner of the Wezesha Awards 2021 received a cheque worth sh1m.

Paul Kato the first runner up received sh700,000 and the second runner up Flavia Atto got sh 500,000. 

Baraka said she will inject the money into her business to grow it further.   

Wezesha Impact is an NGO that delivers a practical experience for youth to develop entrepreneurial skills and test ideas.