Busoga king calls for short courses to support teenage mothers, vulnerable youth
He urged all stakeholders to play their role in keeping children in school until they get a skill, such as those who were graduating.
HTTC's Principal Richard Kawere (2nd left), the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Col (Rtd) Tom Butime (4th left) and Busoga Kingdom's second deputy prime minister Alhaj Ahmed Noor Osman (middle) cutting a cake while at the 16th graduation ceremony of Hotel and Tourism Training College in Jinja on Friday. (Photos by Donald Kiirya)
________________
Kyabazinga (Busoga king) William Gabula Nadiope IV has appealed to the management of the Hotel and Tourism Training College (HTTC) to introduce short courses for teenage mothers and vulnerable youth.
The Kyabazinga appealed during HTTC's 16th graduation ceremony on November 28, 2025, during which 366 students, the majority of them female, graduated with certificates and diplomas in various hospitality and tourism disciplines.
The king was represented by Busoga Kingdom’s second deputy premier Alhaj. Ahmed Noor Osman, who delivered his speech.
The event at the college’s newly upgraded campus brought together government officials, royal representatives, development partners, and families to celebrate.
The King praised the graduates for choosing a career path vital to Uganda’s economy, highlighting the ongoing partnership between HTTC and Busoga Kingdom that has seen at least 10 Kingdom subjects benefit from full scholarships.
The royal representative urged the college to introduce affordable short and practical courses in pastry, bakery, tour guiding, cookery, and barista skills targeted at vulnerable groups such as the many teenage single mothers, school dropouts, and unemployed youth in Busoga who did not attain O'level.
Some of the graduands attending the 16th graduation ceremony of the Hotel and Tourism Training College in Jinja on Friday. 
He emphasised the need to make them affordable and committed to avail Kingdom structures and the goodwill to mobilise the target beneficiaries and resource mobilisation for the special programme benefiting this vulnerable category of Basoga.
Osman decried the alarming rate at which children are dropping out of primary schools and getting into unproductive and destructive behaviour, resulting in high crime incidences, teenage pregnancy and entrenching poverty in Busoga.
He urged all stakeholders to play their role in keeping children in school until they get a skill, such as those who were graduating.
He reiterated the Kingdom's resolve to support the government in the social-economic transformation agenda through various programmes such as Abasaadha N'empango (Men are Pillars), recently commissioned by the Kyabazinga to rally and empower men to play a central role in reducing teenage pregnancy/HIV and GBV, Keeping children in school, and tackling youth unemployment and poverty.
Engine for job creation
Tourism minister Col (rtd) Tom Butime described tourism and hospitality as an engine for job creation, investment, and cultural exchange.
He noted that the sector is central to Uganda’s ambition of generating $50 billion under the Tenfold Strategic Plan 2040.
The Minister thanked the HTTC management and staff for transforming the institution from the former Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (HTTI) into a modern college, complete with a new state-of-the-art campus.
Youth training
Butime praised development partners like the International Labour Organisation (ILO), ENABEL (Belgium), the World Bank, and AVIS, as well as the Busoga Kingdom, for supporting youth training and apprenticeship programmes that have benefited hundreds of students, including refugees and host communities in Karamoja.
HTTC principal Richard Kawere announced that 366 students were graduating, with females forming the majority, and the campus population standing at approximately 66% female.
He highlighted the success of the apprenticeship and graduate reskilling programmes, revealing that 71% of participants secure employment within three months of completion, with nearly all employed within six months.
Kawere showcased new international partnerships that are positioning HTTC as a regional centre of excellence and these included signing an MOU with the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (USA) that has certified 22 academic staff as international hospitality educators and will soon allow students to earn US certifications while studying in Jinja; Staff and student exchange programmes with Boma Hospitality College (Kenya) and the National Tourism Colleges of Tanzania; and Collaboration with IHG Hotels & Resorts Academy (Austria) for advanced instructor up skilling.
The principal also launched a new Enabel-funded Job Centre on campus, equipped with computers where Busoga and other Ugandan youth can walk in for free training in digital and soft skills, and be linked directly to employers.
Addressing the graduates, speakers urged the young professionals to become ambassadors of Ugandan hospitality, embrace innovation and sustainability, and use their skills to drive entrepreneurship and community development.
Overall, the best students were awarded, and these included Joweria Babirye, for best in diploma with 4.86 points and Priscilla Mukisa for best in certificate with 4.92 points.
Babirye stated that the college provided a strong foundation; their lecturers not only taught them the theory but also shared real-life experiences that shaped their understanding of customer care, teamwork, and professionalism.