Support Kyabazinga to skill Busoga’s youth
By championing youth skilling across Busoga, the Kyabazinga is not only emulating, but also complementing the Presidential Skilling Hubs initiated by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. More importantly, he is responding to a real challenge facing our region: the skills gap and the resulting unemployment among our young people, writes Milly Babalanda
Milly Babirye Babalanda. (File)
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OPINION
By Milly Babirye Babalanda
Last Saturday, I joined the people of Busoga to mark the 12th coronation anniversary of the Kyabazinga, His Royal Highness William Wilberforce Gabula Nadiope IV, at Mayuge District Headquarters, under the theme: Strengthening Our Cultural Norms and Values for Development. As we celebrated this important milestone, I was particularly encouraged by the Kyabazinga’s continued commitment to empowering the people of Busoga, especially our young people.
I wish, first of all, to thank His Royal Highness for visiting Budiope West Constituency on September 10, where he launched the construction of a skilling centre at Kitaidhumba Community Primary School, distributed cocoa seedlings and encouraged our people to embrace coffee and cocoa as long-term cash crops.
By championing youth skilling across Busoga, the Kyabazinga is not only emulating, but also complementing the Presidential Skilling Hubs initiated by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. More importantly, he is responding to a real challenge facing our region: the skills gap and the resulting unemployment among our young people. Throughout his reign, the Kyabazinga has demonstrated a strong commitment to empowering his people, with a visible footprint of development initiatives.
Through the Gabula Royal Foundation and Kisoboka Skilling initiative, for instance, he targets to train 50,000 vulnerable youth, school dropouts and teenage mothers across chiefdoms such as Bukooli, Bugweri and Butembe. Thousands have already graduated with the Directorate of Industrial Training modular certifications.
Why youth skilling matters
The importance of this intervention cannot be overstated. Uganda, like many African countries, has a large and youthful population, yet a significant proportion of young people remain outside formal employment. This places enormous pressure on families and the wider economy.
Urban poverty also remains a challenge, standing at approximately 12% in the region. Poverty exposes many girls and women to exploitation, gender-based violence, school dropout and denial of their fundamental rights.
Busoga also continues to face a serious adolescent pregnancy burden. Current evidence puts the rate at 28.4%, compared with about 24% nationally. Other estimates cited for the region put the figure as high as 34%.
Behind these statistics are young people whose lives and opportunities are being cut short. Many young parents lack the practical skills needed to secure employment, start businesses and provide adequately for their families. Consequently, they struggle to meet basic needs such as food, clean water and decent shelter.
This is why vocational skilling is so important. It equips young people with practical knowledge and competencies that can enable them to create jobs for themselves, participate productively in the workforce and contribute to household incomes and the wider economy.
But skilling must go hand in hand with mindset change and responsible citizenship. I, therefore, commend programmes such as Abasadha nhe’mpango (Men are the Pillars), through which the Kyabazinga promotes responsible fatherhood and economic accountability, helping address some of the vulnerabilities that contribute to teenage pregnancies.
Support our Isebantu
The task of transforming Busoga cannot be left to the Kyabazinga alone. It requires the collective effort of the kingdom, the Government, parents, religious leaders, cultural leaders, the private sector and every citizen.
At the same time, we must take full advantage of the Government’s wealth creation programmes, including the Youth Livelihood Programme, Emyooga, the Parish Development Model and the Four-Acre Model. These initiatives provide practical pathways through which households can increase incomes and move out of poverty.
The Kyabazinga’s work and government programmes should, therefore, complement each other. Our shared objective must be to create a Busoga where young people are skilled, productive, economically independent and able to build dignified lives.
As we celebrate 12 years of the Kyabazinga’s reign, let us, therefore, move beyond celebration and translate our appreciation into action. Let us support initiatives that give our young people skills, discipline, confidence and opportunities to earn a living.
A time to thank the Lord
I also call upon the people of Busoga to join me tomorrow, at Iringa Township Primary School, Nkondo sub-county, Buyende district, as we welcome the President to officiate at my thanksgiving ceremony. The ceremony is an opportunity for me to thank God for His favour upon my life, for entrusting me with the responsibility of serving the people of Budiope West and for allowing me to reach the unprecedented milestone of retaining my position as Minister for the Presidency.
I remain grateful to President Museveni for entrusting me with this responsibility, and I pledge to continue working unreservedly to uplift our people.
Finally, I urge the people of Busoga to participate in the fourth edition of the Busoga Prayer Week for all denominations, organised by the Busoga Consortium for Development from Monday, September 21, to Saturday, September 26. These prayers provide an opportunity to dedicate Busoga and Uganda at large into the hands of God, who remains the foundation upon which we build our nation.
As Basoga, let us unite behind our Kyabazinga, support the skilling of our youth and work together with the Government to unlock the enormous potential of our region. A skilled Busoga youth is not only the future of Busoga; he or she is part of the future of Uganda.
The writer is the Minister for the Presidency and MP of Budiope West County